


Soulmate September 2020

by Deviant_Donghun



Series: Sanders Sides One Shots [34]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Aro!Virgil, Arranged Marriage, Detective!Logan, M/M, Platonic Soulmates, Romantic Soulmates, Royalty, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmate-Identifying Timers, Soulmates, Teen!Remus, Vampire!Virgil, Vampires, genderbent sides, mcd only applies to one fic, that will be marked as such, trans!remus, vampire!Logan
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:00:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 43,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26964070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deviant_Donghun/pseuds/Deviant_Donghun
Summary: A collection of soulmate prompts written for the event Soulmate September, in which I wrote one soulmate fic for each day of September.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Logic | Logan Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Sleep | Remy Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders
Series: Sanders Sides One Shots [34]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962379
Comments: 14
Kudos: 53





	1. Day 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your soulmate’s name is written on your wrist or palm.  
> CW: Food.

Virgil has always kept his soulmark covered. It wasn’t like there was anything wrong with it, he just didn’t want his life to be ruled by it. He kept his leather cuff on so he didn’t know what was underneath it. In theory, he knew that a name was written on his wrist and he thought he knew who’s name it was but he’d never seen it and didn’t really want to.

That was, until he’d met Logan. When he’d met Logan, they’d gotten off on the wrong foot, almost feeling like complete opposites. Where Virgil was shy, Logan was confident. Where Logan knew what he was talking about, Virgil second guessed himself at every opportunity. Over time, they learned their commonalities: both having a love for science, being on the same intellectual level, both introverts, both quiet. When they’d figured out that they weren’t so different, they’d teamed up for their final project in college, getting a better grade than either had ever gotten individually. After that, they’d kept in contact as friends.

Neither had ever removed the leather cuff that had been around their wrists since they could read. So, they fell in love naturally. They moved in together after a few years of knowing each other. Logan was the one who proposed. It was after a quiet night in, empty takeout containers still on the coffee table, the end credits of an episode of their favorite show rolling over the screen. It was quiet and private and perfect.

Now, Virgil’s doubts were starting to creep in. He didn’t want them to, but he couldn’t help it. He tried to block the thoughts with loud music or hot showers but nothing worked. Instead, they were always in the back of his mind, always whispering to him. Thoughts of unworthiness, of Logan finding his actual soulmate and leaving Virgil for them, of Logan coming to resent Virgil for not being his soulmate.

This was how he found himself sitting at his kitchen table, Logan out getting groceries. He had his wrist sitting on the table, the latch for the cuff facing upwards. All he had to do was take it off and, he hoped, the doubts would go away and he could go on with his happy life with Logan.

He took a deep breath and unhooked the latch, letting the leather fall away. On his wrist, written in handwriting he would recognize anywhere, was ‘Logan Croft’. He sighed in relief, slumping against the table. Logan was his soulmate for sure, he should be able to rest easy at night now.

Only, he couldn’t. The doubts in his mind weren’t satisfied, instead, they were picking up in volume. The thoughts still circled him like vultures, telling him Logan might be his soulmate but he can’t be sure he’s Logan’s, that he might have another out there that would treat him better. It didn’t matter that the chances of that were extremely low, he should know having had soulmate studies as his major, nor did it matter that Logan loved him no matter who’s name was written on their wrists. The thoughts were still there, still nipping at his heels. He stood, the cuff laying abandoned on the table, and moved to unload the dishwasher, hoping the task would take his mind off it. He ended up blasting music and challenging himself to clean as much of the house as he could before Logan came home.

By the time his fiancé walked through the front door, he’d managed to clean the whole downstairs and was working on the bedroom, cleaning out the little nooks and crannies as he put everything back in working order. Logan’s footsteps on the stairs were drowned by the almost pulsing music Virgil had going, Logan’s knock went unanswered. It wasn’t until he turned the music off that Virgil finally noticed him. He stopped the almost manic sorting of the shoe rack that’d been neat before he’d touched it but was now color coded and sorted by size.

Logan sighed. “It must have been something bad for you to resort to cleaning the clean stuff.” He held a hand out to help Virgil to his feet. “Wanna talk about it?” His eyes glanced down to the bare wrist attached to the hand he was holding but he didn’t mention it, much to Virgil’s relief.

Virgil just shrugged, shuffling forward in a request for a hug. Logan wrapped his arms around him, holding him as tight as he could and laying his chin on Virgil’s shoulder. They stayed like that for a while, just enjoying the feel of the other in their arms. Virgil couldn’t help but wonder if this was the last time he’d get to hug Logan like this.

When Logan pulled away, Virgil was able to see tear stains had appeared on his shirt. Virgil sniffled, wiping his eyes. “Sorry.” He muttered.

Logan shook his head. “It’s nothing that won’t be fixed in the wash. Do you wanna talk about it?”

It was Virgil’s turn to shake his head, stepping around Logan to head down the stairs. He heard the bedroom door close and figured Logan had decided to change out of business casual. Virgil found the cold stuffs had already been put away so dealt with everything else before getting started on dinner. Logan came down and sat at the kitchen table. Virgil glanced up from the cookbook in front of him. “How was your day?” He asked in as neutral a tone as he could manage.

Logan nodded and began talking about his students and their familiar antics throughout the day. As a college professor, Logan had many anecdotes about students and some faculty. Their evening progressed onward in the same fashion, Virgil working on making a meal while Logan distracted him as best he could.

When Virgil placed the plates on the table, Logan gave him a squeeze around the waist and a kiss on the forehead. “Thank you.”

Virgil just nodded, sitting down only to pick up his fork and feel like he’d puke if he tried to even take a bite. Logan paused, his food laden fork halfway to his mouth. Sighing, he put it down and uncurled Virgil’s hand, holding it. “What’s got you so down, darling?”

Virgil felt the tears well up again at the endearment, part of his mind still telling him he doesn’t deserve it. His vision blurred and the next thing he knew, Logan was kneeling by his side with an arm around his waist. He took the time to calm down, silencing the thoughts with much difficulty. When he felt like he could speak again, he turned to look at Logan. “I guess we do need to talk about this.” His voice was watery but strong.

Logan nodded, standing to sit in his own chair, hand never leaving Virgil’s. “I noticed you took your cuff off. Is that what this is about? Am I not-”

Virgil couldn’t bear the end of that sentence, sitting forward as if he could push the words back into Logan’s mouth. “No, you are! It’s just,” he sighed, “I don’t know if I’m yours.”

Logan nodded. “It’s about time we found out anyways.” He released Virgil’s hand to unlatch his own leather cuff. He twisted his arm so the inner arm was facing Virgil, showing him the words written in Virgil’s scrawl, ‘Virgil Strand’. “It’s you.” Logan picked up Virgil’s hand again, kissing his knuckles. “It’s always been you.”

Virgil breathed a sigh of relief, his mind finally coming to a standstill at the news. “I worried . . .” His voice trailed off as he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

Logan nodded in another instance of seeming to read Virgil’s mind. “Even if my wrist said someone else’s name, even if yours said someone else's name, it would still be you. We choose our own fate, not destiny, not some birthmarks. We still love each other and that’s all that matters right now.”

Virgil smiled, leaning over the table and the forgotten meal to kiss the man he’d fallen in love with. “Thank you. For being here for me, for always knowing what to say, for understanding me.”

Logan smiled, kissing him again briefly. “Always.” He finally released Virgil again, picking up the now lukewarm plates. “I’ll go heat these up. Be back in a few.”

The rest of the night was spent as domestically as their engagement night was, both falling asleep curled in the other’s arms, Logan’s head on Virgil’s chest. Virgil slept with a smile on his face and a hand carded through Logan’s hair. Logan fell asleep with a hand over Virgil’s heart and a matching smile on his face.


	2. Day 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a timer that counts down to when you will meet your soulmate.  
> CW: food.

Logan was exploring the mall by his new home, intensely aware of the timer on his wrist going down as he did so. As he walked by a storefront, two people came out and bumped into him. He felt a buzzing and looked down at his wrist to find his timer had gone off. Looking up, one of the two was also looking at their wrist. Logan knew he’d heard a beeping but hadn’t thought it came from another soul timer. He sighed, looking over the pair in front of him and wondering which was his soulmate.

The one who’d looked down at his watch rolled his eyes and pushed the other. “Times up, spit it out.”

The one with the white streak in his hair sighed. “The answers are ‘heroine’ and ‘bookkeeper’.”

The taller of the pair groaned. “No, how is it that simple?”

Logan looked back and forth between the two, wondering which was his soulmate. He finally decided to strike up a conversation. “Excuse me, I couldn’t help but overhear you. May I ask what you’re talking about?”

White Streak looked at him and smirked while Tall hid his face in his hands, the sleeves of his hoodie extending to the fingertips. “We’re discussing riddles,” White Streak said enthusiastically. “Would you like to join?”

Logan smiled, always up for a challenge. “Sure, give me your best one.”

White Streak laughed, excitement lighting up his eyes. “Okay. A girl has as many brothers as sisters, but each brother has only half as many brothers as sisters. How many brothers and sisters are in the family?”

Logan thought about it for a minute. “Four sisters and three brothers.”

Tall moved his hands away from his face. “How did you figure it out so fast?” He turned to White Streak. “Remus, is that even the right answer?”

White Streak, Remus, nodded. “Yep, that’s right!”

Logan chuckled but explained his reasoning. When he was done, Tall was looking at him with awe. “Wow,” he breathed.

Logan smiled. “Do you have any others or would you like to try one?”

Remus nudged Tall. “How about you take a crack at one, Virgil.”

Tall, Virgil, nodded. “Okay but go easy on me.”

“What disappears as soon as you say it’s name?”

The group started walking toward a cluster of seats, sitting while they waited for Virgil to think of something. A few minutes pass before Virgil’s face lights up and he says, “Silence!”

Remus laughed and Logan smiled. “Yes, it’s silence.”

Thus, he spent his afternoon with two strangers, tossing riddles back and forth while loving every second of it. At the end, they exchanged numbers and parted ways. Soon, it was a regular thing to meet up at the mall for wandering and riddles.

Time went on and Logan still didn’t know who’s timer had gone off when they met. Logan could feel himself falling for Virgil but didn’t want to act on it in case Remus was his soulmate. The day came that Virgil didn’t show up for their usual mall walk around.

“Is something wrong?” Logan asked when only Remus showed up.

“Yeah, he just has to help his brother move.” Remus made it sound like it was the most boring activity in the world which, knowing Remus, he probably thought it was.

Logan nodded and they started their usual banter. When they’d grabbed the typical snack of pretzels, Logan finally turned serious. “Remus, can I confess something?”

Remus nodded. “Sure, dude. Go for it.”

“I met my soulmate.”

Remus nodded but Logan could see a light die in his eyes. “Okay. Who’s the lucky person?”

“That’s just it,” Logan forged onward as a false humor invaded his voice, “I don’t know.”

Remus paused mid-stride. “What do you mean you don’t know? You’re timer stopped but you don’t know who it is?” Logan rubbed the back of his neck, stalling by shoving a bite of pretzel into his mouth. Remus glared at him. “That won’t work on me. I can force you to spit that out, you know?”

Logan did, in fact, know he would. So, he chewed quickly and swallowed. “I bumped into you and Virgil at the same time my timer went off. I don’t know which it was.”

Remus laughed, head back and bellowing. “That’s easy!” He said when he caught his breath. “My soul timer is still ticking.”

Logan breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good.”

Remus waggled his eyebrows, his voice immediately turning teasing. “Why, do you have a crush on Virgil or something?”

Logan tilted his face down, pretending to look for a good place to bite on his pretzel. “Or something.”

Remus’ laugh once again rang out. “Okay, do you need my help getting you guys together?”

“That would be helpful, yes.” He breathed out another sigh of relief.

Remus devised a plan to let them be alone long enough for Logan to ask Virgil out. They carried it out the very next week. The usual time to meet came around and Logan was there waiting. Virgil was alone when they met up and Logan had to act surprised. “Where’s Remus? Is he not coming today?”

Virgil shrugged, hands in his kangaroo pouch. “He said he had to help his father with something. He didn’t specify what.”

“Okay. Do you want your riddle now or later?” They usually started off with giving Virgil a riddle to chew on but sometimes he preferred to just hang out for a bit.

Virgil smiled. “Give it to me now so I can think it over for a while.”

“What is mine but only you can have?” Logan smiled, very proud of finding that one.

Virgil nodded. “That’s a tough one. You wanna go see a movie or something?”

“I was just planning on wandering the mall so a movie sounds fine.”

They continued their usual antics, wandering the mall and getting pretzels when done. When it was almost time to go, Virgil paused and turned to Logan. “I still can’t figure out the answer to the riddle. What is it?”

Logan smiled, kissing him on the forehead. “My heart.”

Virgil’s eyes went wide. “What?”

“Look down at your wrist.”

Virgil took his watch off to reveal a timer stopped at zeros across the board. He grabbed Logan’s wrist, pulling it until they lined up, both at zero. Logan laughed. “I knew my timer stopped when I bumped into you and Remus the day we met. I didn’t know who my soulmate was and stuck around to find out. I didn’t think I’d fall for you before it was confirmed.”

Virgil glanced up at Logan, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “You really mean that?”

Logan nodded. “With my whole heart.”

Virgil smiled, burying his head in Logan’s chest. “I fell for you too, riddle boy.”


	3. Day 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have an animal that only you and your soulmate can see.

Logan smiled as the black cat jumped onto his shoulder. He ignored the fact that the cat had not been there before and instead looked at her neck. Sure enough, there was a full capsule attached to the collar. The accessory was a light purple that looked almost indigo and had a name tag attached to it. The tag had names on both sides. One side said ‘Demon’ the other said ‘Shadow’. This was a direct result of both soulmates getting to name the creature.

Gently, he took the note from the capsule on the collar and gave Shadow a few pets while he read the note. It was a long strip of paper rolled into a tight cylinder so it took him some time to go through it. Once he was done, he smiled and grabbed a similar strip of paper from his desk, writing a reply.

Many would wonder how this system came to be, or even how it was possible. The answer is that Logan was a very curious teen and had a lot of time on his hands during the summer. He’d known about the soul animal his whole life, had known his soulmate was the only other one who could see Shadow. What he hadn’t known is a lot of other things about the animal. His first order of business had been to list all his questions out.

Could objects be attached to the animal and still be there when the animal visits the other soulmate? Does the animal truly visit the other soulmate or do they have two different animals that they both can see? Would the object disappear once the other soulmate removed it from the animal?

Once that was done, his experimentation started. First, he’d found a nice collar that was pleasing to the eyes and went well with the cat’s black fur. He’d attached it to the cat and waited a week. During that week, the cat went back and forth between both soulmates as she was wont to do. At the end, the collar had stayed on and became a permanent fixture. It had even gained the extra accessory of a tag that allowed you to write on both sides. The side facing out had ‘Demon’ already written on it. Logan had loved it, having this first contact with his soulmate and knowing they speak the same language.

His next step was to quickly grab a pen and turn the tag over to write ‘Shadow’ as that’s the name he’d been using for the cat the whole time. He then took it one step further and grabbed a few small capsules. He’d read about homing pigeons carrying messages in capsules like this and thought it might work on the collar as well.

He’d sent a small strip of paper basically explaining that this was a test to see if this worked and that his name was Logan. He greeted his soulmate and told them a bit about himself. He didn’t have to wait long before he got a reply saying the test worked and that his soulmate is happy to finally be able to talk to him. His soulmate said his name was Virgil and gave some basic information about himself.

Thus, they managed to strike up a conversation and became friends. They soon came to be the other’s closest confidant, making sure to tell them everything first. Logan told Virgil when he won the science fair and Virgil told him when he got accepted into a dance studio. They got closer by the day, secrets written in the dead of night, jokes shared between two smiles, a million little things happening to bring them closer. Soon, Logan was marveling at the question of how many other people had thought to do this, how many previous generations had been unable to do it.

He hadn’t realized it’d happened until one day he was lying in bed, reading over a new note from Virgil and had the thought pop into his head. He knew in that moment that he loved him, he just didn’t know when it began. Did it begin when he first read his name, repeating it aloud to himself to test how it felt on his tongue? Was it the first time he realized there was someone out there who knew his whole being and accepted him for it? Was it the first time he wondered about Virgil’s laugh, or the way his own name would sound in Virgil’s voice? Was it some indeterminable collection of moments that made it impossible to pinpoint the exact moment?

Whichever way it came about was irrelevant now as it was irreversible. Logan wasn’t even sure he’d want to reverse it if he could. Loving Virgil was both an emotion and a conscious choice that he made. He wouldn’t have it any other way, loving someone he’d yet to meet.

A few days later, he went to a small coffee shop that was on his way to a new doctor’s office. While waiting in line, someone came in and attracted a lot of attention. Turning, Logan found a man with a cat around his shoulders. His hand was buried in the cat’s fur and he seemed to be using it to calm down from something based on the way he stood in the corner and the way the cat kept raising her head to bump against his cheek.

Several people walked over and seemed to be asking the cat’s name. Logan, however, saw the collar and knew exactly who it was. Abandoning his place in line, Logan walked over, his skirt swishing around his knees. He smiled as he came close, Shadow stretching out a paw to bat at his shoulder. “That’s where you were.” He said, having not seen her that morning.

The man, Virgil, looked surprised. “You can see her?”

“I can.” Logan replied simply, reaching out a hand to let the paw rest on. “I’m amused you named her Demon. After all, she’s quite docile for a cat.”

Virgil chuckled, a sound that Logan knew he could melt over. “She’s called Demon because she loves to sit at the end of the bed at three in the morning like a sleep paralysis demon.”

Logan laughed. “How about I buy us both coffee and we can chat in person for a while, not having to wait a few hours for replies?”

“I’d like that, Logan.” Just as he thought it would, his heart skipped a beat when Virgil said his name.

“Say that again.” He said before he could stop himself.

“Say what?”

“My name.”

Virgil smiled. “Logan, Logan, Logan. I’ll say it as many times as you want.”

Logan could have kissed him right then. Instead, he cleared his throat. “What’s your order?”

Virgil told him and he was off, getting back in line to grab them and search for his soulmate and cat, who seem to have taken residence in the corner booth by the window. Logan walked over with a large smile, sliding in across from him before they talked about anything and everything under the sun. They enjoyed the way they could speak and hear the other respond, the chance to see the other’s face while talking, to be able to be close to the other and have him close as well.


	4. Day 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a trail of color only you can see that marks out where your soulmate has been.  
> CW: Food, cats, airplane mention.

Virgil logged on just in time to see Logan do the same. A smile lit up his face as he clicked on him, opening a voice chat. “Hey, L. How’s life?” He asked as he moved away from the device.

Logan chuckled. “It’s good. Sounds like you’re pretty happy right now. Wanna share the good news?”

“I do, actually!” Virgil picked the tablet up, moving it to the kitchen so he could start on dinner. “I just finished setting up my cat room and am almost through with the twenty four hour waiting period the shelter requires! By this time tomorrow, I should have a fluffy friend in the house.” He got out a pan and started gathering ingredients for a meal.

“That sounds great! Have you picked out a name? What does the cat look like?”

Virgil smiled at the insatiable curiosity he’d come to enjoy. “She’s what’s called a ghost tabby which is a black tabby with grey stripes. Her name is, surprising to no one, Ghost. I’ve already gotten her a collar, both water and food bowls, some cardboard boxes as well as a more traditional cat house, a scratching and climbing post, and a litter box. The food and water are catty corner to each other in corners and the litter box is in another corner with the scratching post in the last one. The houses and boxes are scattered around the room. I really hope she likes it, I want her to be comfortable.”

Logan’s voice held pure joy the next time he spoke. “Sounds like it. Hey, you wanna turn cameras on or leave them closed?”

Virgil shrugged. “I mean, I’m making dinner right now so I’m not sure how good the video is going to be but sure, I guess.”

He leaned over and slid the camera cover off, pressing the on screen button to allow video, all the while making sure he didn’t stop stirring the sauce on the stove. Logan’s camera turned on a second later and showed a hoodie. It was grey with the words ‘Will you be my bloody valentine?’ scrawled across it in a blood font. Virgil chuckled. “Is this your way of asking me out, mister?”

Logan put the hoodie in his lap, revealing his bespectacled face. “Is that a yes?”

“Yes, you absolute dork. I’ll go out with you. Are you gonna send me the hoodie or did you just get it to ask me out in the most creative way possible?”

Logan lifted a box, showing it to the camera. “I was gonna mail it to you. Why, do you not want it?”

“Of course I want it!” Virgil was quick to reply.

The rest of the evening was filled with banter and laughter, comfortable with each other. They watched shows together, watching separately but with the chat still open.

A year or so later, they decided to meet up. So, Virgil went to pick Logan up from the airport. He got there a bit early so decided to wait at a cafe inside the airport to pass the time. Just as he was getting up to greet Logan’s plane, a person approached him. They were tall but had a hood pulled up to hide their face. Virgil knew who they were as soon he saw the trail of indigo leading behind them. His soulmate had found him.

Standing, he moved to greet his soulmate but was pulled into a hug instead. A voice he’d recognize anywhere spoke in his ear, radiating relief. “I’m glad it’s you.”

He smiled and said, “Me too,” before letting his head rest in the dip where Logan's neck met his shoulder.

They didn’t pull out of the hug for a while, neither wanting to let go first lest the other disappear. Finally, Logan pulled away enough to keep his hands on Virgil’s shoulders, letting them slide down his arms and hold his hands. “It’s good to see you without a screen and a three hour flight between us.”

Virgil smiled. “That it is. You wanna go meet Ghost now?”

Logan chuckled, squeezing Virgil’s hands. “Yes, I must be approved by the queen of the house.”

“I wouldn’t call her the _queen_ of the house.”

“You certainly treat her like royalty, darling.”

Virgil could feel his heart melt at the pet name. Once they got into the car, he turned the discussion serious. “How did you know it was me?”

Logan frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Your soulmate. How did you know it was me?”

Logan smiled. “Pure luck. My plane arrived early so I was wandering the airport, looking for a place to sit before contacting you, when I came across a trail of what looked like purple glitter. Someone asked me if I had lost my soulmate. When I asked why they thought that, they said I was looking at the ground so assumed I was trying to find my soulmate. I nodded and continued to follow the trail. I thought it’d be interesting to meet my soulmate as I was completely sure you are the only person I’d ever love. I was sure my soulmate would be platonic due to that. So you can imagine my surprise when I came face to face with you.”

Virgil smiled. “For the record, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”


	5. Day 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any intense emotions your soulmate feels you will also experience.

Logan felt another burst of anxiety deep in his gut and sighed. This was the tenth time in three days, he was starting to be worried for his soulmate. He focused on his breathing, feeling for the familiar tug of emotion. After years of doing this, he’d ‘hacked the system’ so to speak by figuring out where the emotional connection was in his head. Once he’d figured that out, it was a simple matter of pushing emotions across it. So, he did that. He pushed a strong calm over to his soulmate, hoping their anxiety would lessen. He breathed out a sigh of relief when it did, when the pit of doubt left his stomach and his throat opened back up, when he didn’t have to struggle to keep his thoughts clear instead of giving in and drowning in the hate his brain spewed at him in that moment.

He hated the way the anxiety made him feel but also knew that his was tame compared to his soulmate’s. To combat it, he started happy stimming, flapping his hands near his face until he was grinning. He didn’t realize he was pushing his happiness through the connection until he felt the joy being radiated back. He stopped stimming, letting his hands falling back onto the library cart bring him out of his thoughts and remind him of his current task: to reshelf books.

Logan loved working at the library. He loved getting to read as much as he wanted, to have the ability to interact with a bunch of people or choose to stay by himself. The best thing about working in the library is that he got to see people’s faces light up when they found a book. Whether it’s the next book in a series they were reading, a book they’d almost forgotten about, one they had cherished memories of as a child, or a new one they were finding for the first time, he loved seeing the different expressions on peoples faces.

Today would be a good day for that as the library had invited a local author to come in and read his books aloud. Not many knew this, but he had two different pen names. One he used to write children’s books, the other was used to write horror stories with the main focus being human vs nature. Logan had researched the man extensively last night, not getting to sleep until a few hours before he had to get up for work.

The door jingled and a man in a hoodie walked in, making his way over to the children’s section. Logan watched him go, wondering what brought him here today, the reason for his visit to that particular section. When Logan saw him reach out a brush a spine, a soft smile lighting his face, he knew it was a nostalgic visit. He went back to his work, finishing in the adult section and moving to the children’s.

He saw that the tall man had sat down in a comically small chair compared to his height, his leg bouncing in some sort of anticipation. Logan felt the anxiety curling into his stomach again, making him want to curl up on the ground or scream in an emotion he was unable to put words to. Instead, he finished putting the books away and walked up to the man, ignoring the voice in his head that was telling him everyone was watching him at all times.

“Are you waiting for someone?” Logan sat on the ground beside the man, watching the way his head ducked further into his hood.

“Something like that.” The man muttered. His fingers were pulling on his sleeves even while his leg was vibrating. There was something unknown but familiar in the man that made Logan curious about him.

“You look like you could use a distraction.” He said, finally pinpointing the reason the man looked just the slightest bit off.

He chuckled but Logan knew there was little to no mirth in it. “Sure, that’d be nice.” Even so, his voice was genuine.

So, Logan started talking about bookbinding and the differences between modern and medieval Europe. He talked for a half hour or so. During that time, he felt the knot of anxiety untie and slip away, his thoughts clear, and an almost giddy sensation come from across the bond. He paused and realized that the giddiness was coming from him and being reflected back across the bond like a loop.

Logan smiled at the man sitting next to him, carefully watching him. He was no longer hunched into himself, no longer hiding from the world. He seemed to be relaxed, his shoulders were down and his head was up, hood thrown back. His leg was no longer bouncing and his hands were no longer tugging at his sleeves. He had a smile on his face and, in that instance, Logan was sure he could talk to this man for hours and never lose his attention.

Logan didn’t resume talking about his latest hyperfixation, glancing at his watch instead. “I need to get ready.”

The man reached out as Logan stood, helping him up but also glancing at his watch before a panicked look crossed his face. “Shoot, is it really that time already?”

Logan nodded. “My watch is always on time. Do you have somewhere to be?”

“Here. I just didn’t expect time to fly so fast.”

“Well, you know what they say about having fun.” Logan began tidying up the area, getting the small chairs and soft sitting surfaces to face the chair the man was sitting in as it seemed to be against the wall already. He found the copy of the book that was to be read and placed it on the table nearby before standing by the door.

The head librarian walked up to Logan. “What have you been doing with V. A. Strand this whole time?!”

Logan’s head would have spun around if he were in a cartoon. “What do you mean? Are you telling me that the random man I helped down from a near panic attack is the author who’s reading to the children today?!”

She looked at him like he was stupid. “Of course!”

Logan looked back to see the man, V. A., smiling and greeting all the children and parents who filed in. He politely refused autographs and pictures but did allow the children hugs, which Logan thought was sweet. He hadn’t realized he’d been talking to one of his favorite authors of all time about bookbinding of all things for half an hour. Logan shook his head, perfectly content with the way the conversation went, the way he was able to calm the man down, the smile he got at the end of it. None of that time was wasted, neither was it made more special simply because he now knew the man’s identity. It was simply a slightly shocking discovery.

He nodded at that thought and turned back, watching the way V. A didn’t have to look at the book, knowing exactly which words were on which pages, what the pictures looked like. Logan wondered how many late nights he spent, pouring his ideas into words. Logan knew the man illustrated his own books and wondered how long it must take.

The reading was over before Logan was aware. About halfway through, he’d been told to get back to work so he grabbed a new cart and was at it reshelving books. He tried to listen in to the reading, wanting to keep talking with and to V. A., someone he’d only exchanged a few words with but he was already desperate to know their opinion on anything and everything. He wanted to know what he had rattling around in that head. After all, no one can be that quiet without having something on their mind. True, they could simply be quiet, but that meant they were either allowing their mind to wander or they were having thoughts on the discussion. Either one deserved to have those thoughts heard and appreciated.

Logan hadn’t noticed the reading was over until a hand tapped him on the shoulder. He turned his head to look and found the object of his thoughts staring back at him, hand retreating back into his hoodie pocket. Logan smiled. “Can I help you with something?”

He nodded. “I think we might be soulmates?” The sentence came out as a question rather than the statement he surely must have meant.

Logan’s smile only faltered slightly in shock, the thought never having crossed his mind before then. “Why do you think that?”

He seemed to draw into himself, his shoulders rising and his head ducking down the slightest bit. Logan wanted to reach out and hold his hand, to tell him everything was going to be fine. He didn’t, instead, he waited for him to speak. “Earlier when you helped calm my anxiety, I could feel a calm and almost giddy feeling as you talked. I don’t find bookbinding particularly delightful so I knew it had to come from someone else. I don’t know, I guess you seemed to be the obvious choice.” He shook his head. “Sorry, it sounds stupid now.”

He turned to go but Logan reached out a hand and gently grabbed his elbow. His hoodie fabric was as soft as it looked. “Hey, no. It’s not stupid. I hadn’t thought of it until now, too caught up in enjoying talking with you, but it feels like it’s possible. You wanna test it?”

He turned back, leaving Logan’s hand on his elbow. “How?”

“How many times have you panicked or had excessive anxiety over the past three days?”

“Including both times today? Eleven.” The statement was accompanied with a wince of embarrassment, as if he were ashamed of having emotions.

Logan nodded, a smile splitting across his face. “That’s as many times as I’ve felt it from you.” His shrug was much more nonchalant than V. A.’s was just now. “So, do you wanna get a donut from the shop down the street and chat sometime soon?”

He laughed. “That sounds nice. Although, I guess we should exchange names and numbers as well.”

They did so and V. A., no _Virgil,_ walked out the library door, waving to Logan on his way out.


	6. Day 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When your soulmate is injured you will experience pain in the same area.

Logan sucked air in through his teeth, feeling a phantom cut spring up on his arm. From the feeling of it, it was probably another cat scratch. He sighed, not waiting for the pain to fade before going back to his task. He truly couldn’t complain about the odd scratch or prick of a bite, after all, he hurt himself more navigating his home on a daily basis than his soulmate did.

He tended to bump into things often, turning pages too fast and getting paper cuts, having some unexplained bruises popping up every now and then. His soulmate seemed to get injuries mainly on the arms and occasionally on the lower legs. He didn’t know much else about them but he didn’t need to know much else.

Grabbing his coat, Logan walked out the door. The air was crisp, the smell of Fall tumbling in the wind like the leaves. He set off at a leisurely pace, having all the time in the world to enjoy the lovely weather. The leaves were changing to the browns, reds, and golds he loved. The scarf around his neck gave him a welcome comfort and protection against the wind that assaulted his cheeks. His walk was calm and relaxing, nothing too eventful happening within it, allowing him to arrive at the library without incident.

Instead of simply checking out books and leaving, Logan decided to sit at one of the tables and read. He was getting into the book, his eyes scanning the pages faster as the scenes intensified. His mind became lost in the story, his eyes flying over the words until he was almost watching it play out as a movie or play would. His senses zeroed in on the book and he no longer cared about where he was or who was around him, his focus completely on the book.

This meant that he was flipping the pages with abandon, not caring about the amount of force he was using. He was brought solidly back to the real world when he got a paper cut from the page, making him hiss in pain. Down the table, another person clutched their finger in the exact spot Logan had just cut.

Logan looked over at them and took a chance. He scooped up his book, made his way over, and sat down across the table from them. “Excuse me, did you get a cut on your arm this morning?”

The person glanced up at him and nodded. “How’d you know?” Even with the question, their voice was devoid of surprise. After all, it wasn’t that uncommon for soulmates to introduce themselves in this manner, nor was it out of the ordinary for perfect strangers to attempt to strike up a conversation with something like this.

Logan couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. “I felt it. I also noticed you felt the paper cut I got just now.” He held up the damaged finger as if for proof.

The person nodded, putting a bookmark in their book, Logan couldn’t help but notice that it was about vampire lore, and stuck out their hand. “Hi, my name is Virgil and I go by they/them pronouns.”

Logan’s smile grew as he took and shook the hand. “My name is Logan and I go by he/him pronouns.”

They continued to talk for a bit, getting to know each other. They eventually got kicked out for being too disruptive, giggling over the insanities of vampire lore that was forgotten by the general population. Both checked out their books before walking together down to the local bakery. It was quiet in there, not many customers choosing to stay despite the wonderful cookies that were served.

Soon, it became a regular meeting place for the soulmates. In the beginning, they met up and talked about books or fandoms or things. Soon, it progressed into their personal lives. Virgil learned that Logan taught history at the high school, managing to slip in queer facts and highlighting times when women did the work while the men reaped the profits. Logan learned that Virgil worked at the local shelter in addition to having their own cat at home, rescued from that same shelter.

They soon progressed to inviting the other to their homes. Logan got to meet Muffin, Virgil’s russian blue. Virgil got to see Logan’s extensive book collection, receiving permission to borrow any book they liked. Over the course of the next year and a half, they got to know each other better and better until the day came that Virgil proposed.

Logan accepted enthusiastically and they got married that Fall. The wedding theme perfectly matched the leaves and Logan couldn’t be happier in the life he and Virgil got to live.


	7. Day 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a string tied around your pinky the end of which leads to your soulmate.  
> ~~~  
> I modified the prompt a bit. In this world, everyone can see the string tied around the finger. When the string is intact, it’s red like normal. If the string has been cut, it will turn gray and both soulmates will be seen as ‘lesser people’ for denying their destiny. If a soulmate dies, the string will turn black. Another thing to note is that Logan is asexual. It’s briefly alluded to in the beginning but not brought up again.  
> CW: Discrimination.

Virgil wandered the campus, shoulders hunched in a clear indication that he didn’t want to be seen. He was glad to be able to be here at all after what happened in high school. Even so, he made sure to wear the gloves and stay out of people’s ways. The first semester was hell as he still wasn’t sure how to do anything but still tried. It seemed all his teachers had it out for him on day one as soon as they caught sight of those gloves.

It wasn’t until his second semester that he met someone who wore gloves just like him. He was sitting by himself during the time he’d scheduled for lunch, reading a fanfiction off his phone and trying to block out the world. Someone sat beside him and started watching a nature documentary while eating. He glanced over and frowned in confusion. Before he could gather his things to move to a different seat, the person spoke.

“I see you’re just like me.”

Virgil’s frown deepened. “How is that?”

They held up a gloved hand. “How did yours happen?”

Virgil relaxed into his seat. “I don’t know. I was in the middle of math class in high school.”

They winced, nodding. “That’s tough.”

“You?” Virgil didn’t know why, but he felt a burning need to know their story, to know he wasn’t alone in his struggles.

Their wince turned sour, a look one step away from a glare entering their eyes. “I cut it myself. She wasn’t willing to treat me right, didn’t accept my pronouns and sexuality, so I cut it. I know my worth and she didn’t deserve me. As far as I care, she still doesn’t.”

Virgil nodded, almost in awe of them. “I never met mine but they’ve stayed with me for a while now. I’ve always wondered if I was ever going to be good enough for someone or if I was simply too damaged.” He had no idea why he was telling a random stranger his life’s story but it felt too right to stop.

The stranger shook their head. “They cut it, you didn’t. It’s their fault but you’ve had to live with it. That shouldn't have been the case.” They turned to look at him, a fierce expression in their eyes. “If they didn’t want you, they didn’t deserve you, simple as that. You never got to know them or be known by them, thus it is their fault for cutting it. Never blame yourself for the actions of others.”

With that, they put their headphones back in and played their documentary. Virgil felt his phone buzz and looked down to find that he had ten minutes to get to class. He hastily ripped out a paper from his notebook, scrawled his number on it, shoved it over to the stranger, and ran off to get to class.

He didn’t see the stranger again for a few days but got a text from them that night. They chatted late into the night, talking about classes and life outside of soulmates. They commiserated over their lack of soulmates and the shunning it causes. Virgil was able to complain about his gloves and how much he hated them and have someone agree and understand, something he’d never had before. He was able to understand when the stranger, Logan, complained about the stares they got while washing their hands, how they hated everyone looking at the gray string that hung limply from their finger.

Virgil soon found not only a soulmateless companion, but a companion in academic pursuits as well. They seemed to be intellectual peers so Virgil understood most of Logan’s science babble. Logan seemed to have taken a biologist major as they spoke of creatures found in rainforests constantly. Virgil, on the other hand, was in an arts major, focusing mainly on building models of commissioned structures.

Slowly, brick by brick, Logan rebuilt Virgil’s self confidence. They helped him regain his self love, told him how strong he was for surviving the most grueling years of his life. Logan would never let Virgil apologize for the simple things like running late or using the wrong pronouns for them. They always made sure to let him know that they were not upset and were proud of his progress. Virgil’s sense of self worth grew stronger and larger, finally allowing him to see what Logan had known from the start: Virgil’s soulmate didn’t deserve him.

Over the semester, they grew closer, their bond growing strong. Virgil’s panic attacks lessened, he could stand to hear the word ‘soulmates’ without wanting to curl into a ball and cry, he didn’t jump at the sight of a math textbook, didn’t feel the need to hide his high school passions. He grew enough that he could look at the gloves he had to wear with something other than disdain.

Soon, they had decided to room together the next semester. Luckily, their requests were easily approved as it seemed the faculty were more than happy to have the two students without soulmates room together.

They finished their degrees and managed to graduate without dying, which Virgil counted as a plus. Logan simply said Virgil was being overdramatic. Once they graduated, they found an aquarium with a rainforest section that allowed Logan to work with the animals they loved and gave Virgil a lot of opportunities to make or upgrade different terrariums and enclosures. He was also able to design more enrichment activities for certain animals. They saw each other in the back rooms and in the halls. Most times, they ended up sitting with each other to eat lunch as not many people wanted to interact with them. They still lived together in a small apartment as they didn’t feel the need to move.

Over time, Virgil got to know Logan better and knew he was falling for them. One night, he’d accidentally had too much to drink. He leaned against Logan, who’s arm around his waist was the only thing keeping him upright and relatively stable. Logan deposited him on the couch. “Stay here, I’ll go grab you some water to sober you up.”

Virgil whined, reaching out for them. Once he took hold of their hand, he pulled his roommate close. “No! Don’t go!”

Logan sighed but sat down on the couch anyways. Virgil leaned heavily to the side but before Logan could catch him, his head landed in the other’s lap. Virgil wiggled a bit before he managed to throw his legs over the arm of the couch, fully laying down now. He giggled, looking up at Logan. “You’re really handsome.” He muttered.

Logan smiled fondly, a hand reaching out to stroke through Virgil’s hair. “That’s nice, Virge. How about you try to sleep now?”

Virgil shook his head. “No, no sleep. You’re too nice to me.”

Logan’s smile turned into a frown. “How am I too nice to you?”

“You’re very patient with me, never getting angry at me for jumping at small noises, or randomly leaving a room. You take such good care of me when I’m sick. You’ve treated me with more basic human kindness than most people did during college.” Tears started to slide down his temples but Logan brushed them away. “I love you, L.” Virgil curled up, his face pressed against Logan’s stomach.

Logan stayed still the rest of the night, eventually falling asleep. When they woke, Virgil was moving around in the kitchen. “Sorry, did I wake you?” He asked genuinely.

Logan groaned but shook their head as they stood. “No, but I think we need to talk about last night.”

Virgil nodded, turning the burner off so he didn’t burn the scrambled eggs. “Is this about my drinking? I promise that was a one time thing.”

“No, I trust you on that. I’m talking about what you said to me before you fell asleep.”

Virgil nodded again, shakier this time. He put the dish towel he was holding down. “Oh, that.”

Logan nodded. “I only really have one question for you.”

Virgil looked at the counter, pretending to wipe at the already clean surface. “Sure, shoot.”

Logan put a hand on his arm, staying his movement. “Did you mean it?”

Virgil’s head shot up so fast he was sure he popped something. “Of course!”

Logan smiled, leaning over to kiss Virgil’s cheek. “Good, because I love you too.”

Virgil stood there, dazed, for a few minutes while Logan walked away to shower and get ready for the day. When they came back out, they had a discussion of what their relationship was and decided that they were datemates.

As time went on, they stopped sleeping in separate rooms for one reason or another. Sometimes, one of them couldn’t handle the pressure of the world anymore and ended up crying themselves to sleep on the other’s bed, sometimes they were cuddling and talking before falling asleep. Eventually, they simply decided to share a room. With their combined savings, they toured apartments and found one they liked, with a bedroom they could both make theirs.

A few more years went by and they were happy. When around Logan, Virgil could almost forget about the grey string tied to his finger, the string that decreed he was unlovable, unable to marry, unable to adopt. The string and all implications that came with it ceased to exist the moment he caught sight of Logan.

It was in one of those moments that he knew: he wanted to marry this beautiful human beside him, the one holding him close, the one who makes him forget the world, the one who loves him just as much as he loves them. He also knew that the gray strings hidden under their gloves denied their marriage. Only soulmates bound by a red string could get married, adopt, love.

Virgil raised his head from it’s position on Logan’s chest, looking them in the eye. “Marry me.”

Logan chuckled, a hand running through Virgil’s hair. “I’d love to but you know we can’t.”

Virgil shook his head. “If our marriage would never be legal, why should we use legal means?”

Logan’s smile slid into a frown. “I don’t follow.”

“How does a wedding go, babe?”

Logan’s smile returned at the pet name. “It usually involves the soulmates saying vows and swapping their soul strings, which proceeds to glow golden around the base of the finger while the rest of the string stays red.”

Virgil nodded, his smile growing. “So, let’s do that! We don’t need any witnesses if we’re not able to make it legal anyways. What do you say?”

Logan had gotten a look in their eye while Virgil was talking that he knew all too well. His datemate was plotting something. “Well,” he said finally, “if we’re doing this, I’d want to do it as best as we can.”

Virgil nodded, moving to sit up so he could see Logan better. “Like what?”

“You mentioned vows?”

Virgil smiled, feeling excitement and just a bit of anxiety growing. “That’s doable.”

“I could pick up cupcakes instead of a wedding cake?”

Virgil nodded, grinning. “Would it be too much if I were to wear a suit?”

Logan smiled, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “Not if I wore a dress.”

They continued to plan their ‘wedding’ over the course of a few days, both preparing vows in their free time. Virgil was once asked about what he was doing by a coworker but said he was giving a speech at a relative’s wedding, not wanting to give away that what he was doing was technically illegal.

The day they’d set arrived. It was a joint day off so neither had to go into work. Virgil woke up before Logan did, depositing a kiss to their forehead before slipping out of bed. He ate breakfast, making one for Logan to find when they woke up, before heading to the spare bedroom to prepare.

A few hours later, he walked out to the living room they’d decorated the night before. He stood at the arch of paper links, his gloves discarded and suit on. He fidgeted with the edges, wanting everything to be perfect for Logan.

When they walked out, it felt like his breath was sucked out of him. His eyes swept over Logan’s frame, their dress accentuating their features. Logan’s smile could have sent birds singing when Virgil’s eyes finally made their way back up. He held out his hand for them to take as they arrived. “You look gorgeous.” He murmured in awe.

Logan chuckled, dropping their bouquet gently onto the couch. “Thank you. You look amazing as well.”

Virgil gripped Logan’s hands tightly, knowing he was first. He looked directly into their eyes while he spoke. “I’ve chosen you. To be no other than yourself, loving what I know of you and trusting who you will become. In a world that is based on who you were destined to love at birth, I’ve chosen to love you. It is free will but that does not mean it is false love. I will gladly share your name and care for you, in sickness and in health, in fair weather and storms, in every battle life throws at us. I will stand by your side and fight with you. We shall always be equals in this marriage and I would never wish it any other way. I love you and take you, Logan Croft, to be my unlawfully wedded spouse.”

Logan smiled, squeezing Virgil’s hands before beginning. “All I have in this world, I freely give to you. I promise to love you every second of every day, not just for a moment, nor for an hour, nor for a day, nor for a year, I will love you until eternity ends. Until the mountains crumble into the sea, and the oceans rise to consume the land, I will love you with everything I have. I will put you back together when you are falling apart, I will laugh with you, grieve with you. Our love is unique and something I will cherish beyond anything. I found you without the aid of a string, without anything tying our souls together, and our love is stronger for it. We have fought to love, fought to live in a world that does not want us, and we have grown and clung to each other through it all. I cannot tell where I end and you begin and I would have it no other way. I love you with all my soul and take you, Virgil Storm, to be my unlawfully wedded husband.”

They both carefully untied the gray strings around their pinkies, Virgil tying his around Logan’s left ring finger before Logan tied theirs around Virgil’s. Once they did that, they shared a kiss. Logan was the first to pull back, their eyes going down to look at the soul string tied around their finger.

The part tied at the base was now a glowing silver instead of a muted gray. Following the ends, one ended as normal while the other had grown and now connected to one of Virgil’s ends. His own string was also glowing a bright silver while the connecting string was a soft pink.

Virgil stared in shock before locking eyes with Logan. “Do you know what this means?”

“That people who have cut strings can choose their next soulmate? Or that the prejudice against those with grey and black strings is no longer justified? That we could probably go register at a courthouse and be _law_ fully wedded now? That-”

Virgil surged forward and captured their lips with a kiss. “It means that no one can tell us we are broken. No one can rip us apart.” He whispered before Logan tilted their head up for more kisses.


	8. Day 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The temperature of your chest gets hotter when you are closer to your soulmate and colder when you move further away.  
> CW: Food

Virgil felt the heat in his chest like a tether, always having a knowledge of the distance that lay between them. He felt blooms of a now familiar warmth when he walked into a location and knew his soulmate was nearby. It happened in the most normal of places: the coffee shop, the grocery store, the library, the movie theatre, the mall. He knew his soulmate was in the same town, but he was too scared to try to find them. Nevertheless, he knew it was only a matter of time before the cold became unbearable and he once again sought the warmth that came from his soulmate.

For now, he was content to hide in his home and talk to his online friends. He opened his primary social media to find a message from his friend RealLifeDisneyPrince25. “Hey, Emo!” It read. “How’s your day been?”

Virgil sighed. “It’s been just shy of an Emperor's New Groove kind of day.”

“Oof.” was the only response he got for a minute. Then, he got a gif of Kuzco sitting in the rain in llama form.

Virgil chuckled and sent back a sassy tongue sticking out gif. “Thanks /s.”

“For real, tho. How are you?”

Virgil sighed, scrolling through his feed to distract himself briefly. “I’ll be fine. It’s just been one of those nights. How are you doing? Keeping yourself busy?”

An excited keysmash told Virgil he was about to read something written as fast as his friend's fingers could go. “I got the lead part in a play!!!! I’m so excited to do it!!!”

“Really? Couldn’t tell. /s” Virgil responded with a chuckle.

“Don’t tease me! *pouts*”

Virgil shook his head. “Sorry. Tell me more.”

He let Princey, as he’d come to affectionately call his friend, talk about the new role he got. The excitement was given a large helping of Disney jokes but Virgil let it slide. Eventually, the messages slowed to a stop. “How’s work going for you?”

Virgil glanced at his desk, a mess of papers and pens. “It’s going.”

“Are you still stuck on that one commission?”

“Yeah. I’m not sure why I can’t do it. It’s not that I hate the ship, it’s an okay one, I guess it’s just the situation doesn’t wanna work for me.”

“! Do you have a ship you like that’s similar to this one?”

“Dynamic or personality wise?”

“Whichever works best for this.”

“Hmmmm, yeah, I do.”

“Good! Just use that ship and replace the names later! At that point, you’ve got a good baseline and can tweak it as necessary!”

Virgil nodded thoughtfully, walking over to his desk to find the sheet from the beginning and write the note to the side. “That might work. Thanks!”

Their conversation wandered from topic to topic as they were wont to do. Eventually, it came back around to meeting up. As usual, Virgil hesitated. Not because he didn’t want to meet Princey, he’d just never shown his face to him and was worried he’d hate him or something. Virgil also had the vague idea that Princey would not turn out to be who he thought he was. Either way, he knew he needed to get past this baseless anxiety.

“Sure. I’m down for meeting up. When and where?” His heart pounded as he typed that and he almost didn’t hit send but he did eventually.

“Whoa, really? I’m fine waiting till you’re comfortable you know.”

“No, I’m cool with it. Seriously, Princey, let’s do this.”

“Ok. I know from bios that we live near each other. How about that little café that has the nice croissants?”

“Address? I don’t think we have the same taste in croissants, Princey.”

“Fair, fair.” He gave an address and Virgil confirmed he knew where it was. It was the little corner place that he went for danishes and felt the warmth from his soulmate strongest. They set the time and date and Virgil put it on his calendar, anxiously counting down the days until he loses the only friend he’d had in three years.

The day came and he was waiting in the café for Princey, checking his phone to make sure he got the time right. He’d told him he’d be waiting at a specific table with a specific danish so all he had to do was wait. As he was scrolling to take his mind off the upcoming meeting, he felt his chest heat up.

His head shot up, eyes searching for someone he didn’t know, someone he’d never met, someone he’d never be able to identify. None of that stopped him from looking, eyes scanning the crowd. The feeling grew and he didn’t notice who it was until someone was standing right next to him.

“Are you EmoNightmare13?” The man asked.

Virgil nodded, feeling his chest almost boiling. It wasn’t in a bad way, but a good way. It felt like when you found a large patch of sunlight coming in through a window and laid down in it for a quick cat nap. “You RealLifeDisneyPrince25?”

He nodded and slid into the seat opposite Virgil, subtly rubbing his sternum. Virgil jerked his chin at him. “You feeling that too?”

Princey’s eyes raised to look at him. “You mean you’re also feeling the heat in your chest?” His face lit up at Virgil’s nod. “You do realize that this means we’re soulmates, right?”

Virgil nodded, afraid he was going to say that. “I hope it’s platonic soulmates.”

Princey frowned. “Why would you say that? Is there something wrong with romance?” His tone wasn’t harsh, simply curious. Still, it was hard to not feel as if it were a jab against him personally.

Virgil shrugged. “It probably has something to do with me being a romance indifferent aromantic.”

“Oh. Oh! I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound rude!”

“No, it’s fine. It’s not like you knew to begin with.”

“That’s true, I don’t know much about you! I mean, sure, I know your opinions on almost every Disney movie, but I don’t think I even know your name!”

They both quickly rectified that, Virgil soon learning that his soulmate’s name was Roman. They talked for a while, exchanging phone numbers before Roman had to get back to the theatre. Virgil promised to see his play on opening night and made his way back home to finish that commission.


	9. Day 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you write something on your own skin it appears on your soulmate’s skin as well.  
> ~~~  
> CW: Mentions of transphobia and abuse.

“It feels like the whole world is closing in. I’m starting to get claustrophobic.” Logan saw the words appear on his leg. Lying in bed in nothing but a pair of gym shorts, most of his skin was covered in black and purple ink. He paused, his black pen hovering over the skin just below the purple.

Finally, he put pen to skin. “That’s understandable. Sometimes, you just need to distance yourself from the world. Put up a barrier and exist behind it, give yourself a mental personal bubble and stick to it. Have things you enjoy set aside in a way that you can interact with them without having to interact with the world.”

The purple gave a dot of acknowledgement. Logan knew Virgil would eventually tired himself out and fall asleep so waited for any indicator. Soon, the ink left a small dot before a trail dropped off the limb, cutting through the previous conversation. Logan chuckled, knowing his soulmate had fallen asleep.

He stood, crossing to the bathroom and sitting on the edge of the tub as he took a washcloth to the pen marks. He smiled, thinking of the many conversations he’d had with Virgil. He’d known his name his whole life, or so it felt. In reality, he’d been five when ink had first shown up on his arm. It was a simple hello from Virgil’s parents to test if his soulmate was older or younger than him. Logan had run up to his mom and she and Mama wrote on his other arm.

After that, he was encouraged to write little notes to his soulmate on his arms, telling him about his day and things he’d learned in school. He was told that Virgil wouldn’t be able to respond for a few years but that didn’t stop him from trying.

He was eleven when he first got a response. It was shakily written, clearly by a child holding a crayon in a fist. He’d been so happy, running to Mama to show her. Mama had encouraged him to write back and he could picture the giggles that arose from his soulmate.

Soon, they were holding full conversations. Those progressed to late night conversations, pens sliding off skin as sleep took over, the hurried scrawls of notes or ideas, getting to know his soulmate by his personality and penmanship, getting to see that penmanship change as he learned how he wrote best, getting to know his mood by his wording and the spacing between letters. He got to know his tastes in food by his grocery lists, his daily activities by to-do lists. He saw when tears or rain obscured important information and made sure to write it higher up so it wasn’t smudged. This was usually accompanied by hearts and stars from Virgil drawn next to them as a way of thanks.

He made sure to do the same, writing grocery and to-do lists on his arms, chuckling when Virgil thought it was his own list and started crossing things off. His favorite thing to do was to play simple table games on his arms, tic tac toe, dots and boxes, sprouts, and others. They both eventually solved little arguments of who won which game by choosing different pen colors.

At one point during a day, it must have been when he was about fifteen or so, he got a note on his arm that Virgil had been diagnosed with ADHD. He’d researched as much about it as he could in the hopes of helping in any way he could. He’d give reminders, encourage Virgil to write task lists on his arm, even if it was ‘I need to make dinner in fifteen minutes’ so Logan could give a reminder at the five minute mark. He noticed when Virgil didn’t respond and would ask if it was a bad sensory day and would use a different pen in case that was triggering his hypersensitivity.

One day, he noticed a building number written on his arm when he woke up. It was a very familiar building number as it was his place of work. He smiled as he adjusted his tie, going into work with a spring in his step. When he got to the break room, he thought he’d ask around. “Does anyone have a Virgil for an appointment?”

He got a few smirks from coworkers but some others gave him genuine smiles. “Is it your soulmate?” Someone asked, clear teasing in her voice.

Logan nodded, a smile creeping across his face. He twisted his arm, letting the rest of them see the note with the building address. “I woke up to this and assumed. So, does anyone have an appointment with him?”

Patton raised his hand with a giggle. “I do! It’s a one o'clock appointment. I’m pretty sure you’ve got a one-thirty appointment. I’m willing to swap with you.”

Logan nodded as he poured creamer into his coffee. “That would be fine, thank you.”

He went back to his office and completed paperwork, dealing with the few clients he had in the morning. He went out and grabbed a quick lunch during his noon break before sitting in his office, trying not to stand every five minutes to look for Virgil.

Finally, the clock struck one and his head swiveled to the door. His secretary knocked on it and he called for him to come in. Roman peeked his head in. “I have a Virgil Storm that Patton said is for you?”

“Yes! Send him in, please.” He tried to keep his excitement to a minimum but after falling for his soulmate twelve years ago, he was excited to see him for the first time. He stood as his soulmate entered, a shy looking young man in a purple and black hoodie with ripped black jeans.

“Virgil Storm, welcome.” He reached over the desk for a handshake, the address clear on his arm.

Virgil raised his head, eyes locking onto the purple writing that matched the pen he usually used. He shifted his gaze to Logan’s eyes. “Logan?” His voice was hesitant, as if he were already regretting the decision to ask.

Logan nodded, his attempts to contain his smile succeeding for the most part. “That’s right, soulmate.”

Virgil smiled, dropping his hood as he sat in the chair on the opposite side of the desk. Logan sat as his soulmate looked around the room. Logan couldn’t take his eyes off the man, his hair tousled from the hood, his shoulders looking more relaxed than when he came in, he looked nice. Finally, he turned back to face Logan. “So, law office, huh?” He smirked.

Logan nodded, folding his hands on his desk. “Yes. I find the work . . . fulfilling.” He reached for the documents Patton had provided for him earlier. “So, what caused you to need a lawyer?”

Virgil seemed to draw in on himself. “Well, I want to get custody of my younger brother from my parents.”

Logan nodded, making a note on a clean sheet of paper. “Okay, and do you have any reasons to know that they are unfit parents? Any reasons to believe that you would be a better guardian?” He looked up, an apology in his eyes. “I’m sorry, dearest, you must understand that these are standard questions.”

Virgil squirmed slightly in his seat. “Dearest?”

Logan nodded, avoiding eye contact. “I have no excuse for that one.”

Virgil’s hand came across the desk to rest on Logan’s. “I wouldn’t expect an excuse. I guess I just didn’t expect an exclamation of love so soon after meeting. Then again, we met when I was born, didn’t we?”

Logan looked up at him and saw a look that his own face must have mirrored. “That’s right. I’ve known you all my life and couldn’t imagine loving anyone else.” After a period of silence, he cleared his throat and straightened the papers. “We should get back on track.”

Virgil nodded, settling back in his chair. “Right. Uhh, they are abusive to him. I’d never been abused by them but when Remus came knocking at my door with some large bruises on his wrists, I knew I had to do something.”

Logan nodded. “Okay, are you aware of a moment of instigation of the abuse? You mention not being abused yourself so I’m wondering if there is a specific thing about your brother that your parents saw but didn’t like.”

“He’s transgender. That’s the only thing I can think of that they don’t like about him. I mean, I’m pretty alternative and emo myself so I can’t imagine them snapping over something as simple as a teenager who plays music too loud or watches too many horror movies.”

Logan jotted a note down. “Okay, can we circle back around to my question of how you could make a better guardian? This is a simple argument we can use in court against your parents.”

“I have a stable income that is capable of providing for two people, he’s already been living at my place for a few weeks at the moment, and . . . I’ve contacted my soulmate.” Logan looked up from his notes just in time to see Virgil wink at him.

“Flirt,” he muttered as he went back to his notes.

Virgil leaned forward, his face confident. “I’m sorry, what was that?”

Logan shook his head. “Nothing.” Looking back over his notes, he underlined certain things before looking back up at Virgil. “Okay, I think I’ll need to talk to Remus for a little bit but other than that, I think we might have a strong case. I will have to ask that you are not in the room while I talk to him but you can wait directly outside. The only reason for this is so I know he’s speaking of his own free will and isn’t allowing you to speak for him, which is something your parents might try to hold against us.”

Virgil nodded. “May I ask why you need to speak to him?”

“It’s to make sure that he understands what’s happening and is okay with you taking custody. I also have to ask him some cursory questions to know the extent of the abuse. I might also have to have some pictures taken of bruises as evidence for court.”

Virgil nodded, making a note on his arm. Logan smiled. Once that was done, Virgil leaned forward. “Are there any rules against dating your lawyer?”

Logan smiled along with him. “None that I can recall. Why, are you thinking about it?”

Virgil smirked. “Only if he’s willing to date me back.” Logan nodded, leaning forward in a silent invitation for a kiss, which Virgil accepted.

The case took a few months and was hard fought, but Virgil eventually got custody of Remus. He and Logan continued to date until Virgil and Remus moved in with Logan. The lawyer was the one to propose, much to his coworkers’ enjoyment. The wedding was a simple one but they were happy in their life. Logan asked Remus if he would prefer to be under only Virgil’s custody or if he wanted Logan to have joint custody and, when told Remus preferred the second option, quickly petitioned for joint custody, which was easily obtained. Their life was a busy one but it was happy, and it was theirs.


	10. Day 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You are born with a birthmark, similar to a tattoo, that is shared by your soulmate.

Virgil turned his head to look at the roommate he’d had since first semester. “So, what do you want to do now?”

Logan shrugged. “I guess we could play some simple game that doesn’t really require lights?”

Virgil scoffed. “Like what, truth or dare?”

“I’d be fine with that.”

Virgil sat up, moving his head to stare at him in the dim light. “Really? You wanna play a children’s game?”

“It sounds like a good way to pass the time.” Logan said as he shifted to face Virgil, legs crossed as one hand gripped his ankle.

Virgil threw his hood back. “Fine. Do you want to go first then?”

“Sure. Truth or dare?”

“Truth.”

“Have you met your soulmate?”

“I have. Truth or dare?” He neglected to mention that he’d seen Logan’s already and knew they were soulmates.

“Truth.” Logan’s voice sounded a bit sad.

“Where is your soulmark?” Virgil pretended like he did know simply because he wanted to see if he could get another glimpse of it.

Logan pulled up his sleeve, turning his arm so Virgil could see it. “On my wrist. Truth or dare?”

“Uh, let’s go with dare.”

Logan thought about it for a minute. “I dare you to show me your soulmark.”

Virgil sighed. He began to pull his hoodie and tee shirt over his head. Logan looked startled. “What are you doing?!”

Virgil paused. “Showing you my mark? It’s on my right shoulder blade and is easiest to see with nothing in the way. You got a problem with that?”

If the storm hadn’t knocked out their power, Virgil was sure he would have seen Logan try to hide a blush. “No, continue.”

Virgil pulled it all the way off and turned to show Logan. Judging from his shadow on the wall behind him, the flashlight was now pointed at his back. He felt cold skin against his and twisted his head to see what was happening. “What are you doing?”

“Virgil, our soulmarks are identical.” Logan’s voice was filled with surprise and something that sounded like relief.

Virgil smiled. “I know.”

Logan pulled back and Virgil turned back around to find his shocked expression. “You do? How long have you known?”

Virgil shook a finger at him. “Not your turn to ask. Truth or dare?”

Logan sighed. “Truth.”

Virgil had been waiting for this moment since he’d suggested the game. “Do you love me?”

Logan looked shocked but quickly recovered. “Dare.”

Virgil leaned forward slightly. “I dare you to tell me if you love me. It’s imperative to my mission as well as the answer to your own question.”

Logan looked away and seemed to be gaining courage because he twisted his head back and said, “Yes, I do love you.”

Virgil smiled and leaned forward just enough to kiss him on the cheek. “I love you too, soulmate.”

Logan didn’t react to the kiss. “So, truth or dare?”

Virgil couldn’t help but chuckle as he leaned back to give Logan space. “Truth.”

“How long have you known we’re soulmates?”

“About a year or so. I saw your soulmark while you were doing dishes and I was reading your textbook to you.”

Logan nodded. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

Virgil shrugged. “I guess it just never came up. I also hadn’t put it together right then and there, it wasn’t until I was able to look at my back that I realized. I mean, it’s not like I have it in an easily seen spot, you know.”

Logan nodded. “Follow up question: how long have you known you love me?”

Virgil sighed as he laid back down on the floor, just as uncaring about it as when he’d first done it. “Emotions are tricky. I can’t pinpoint the exact second that particular one came into being, only that it is here and I have to deal with it. I can say it feels like I’ve loved you for my whole life and I can’t imagine not loving you.” He turned his head to look at him again. “What about you?”

Logan shrugged. “I’ve known I love you for about two months.”

Virgil couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “Mutual pining at it’s finest, huh?”

Logan smiled, turning to face him. “It doesn’t have to be pining anymore, does it?”

Virgil nodded, letting his arm fall to his side in a silent invitation. Logan took it, curling up next to him with his head over Virgil’s heart. “So, what are we?” Logan asked after a while.

Virgil held up his hands in the typical helpless position. “Soulmates. If we need to put another label on it, boyfriends, maybe?”

Logan giggled, snuggling his head into a better position. “I like the sound of that.”

Virgil ran a hand through his hair, settling into a comfortable rhythm that matched his breathing. “I like it too.”

They stayed like that for a while, cuddling on the floor of their shared apartment while waiting for the storm to blow over. They knew the power wasn’t going to be back on for another few hours at the earliest and were perfectly content to sit there and talk in the meantime.


	11. Day 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pick your favorite soulmate AU and write about it.  
> Reincarnation AU; Everyone is born with a ring on their finger that changes color with your soulmate’s mood, turning pink when you touch for the first time. When they die, the ring turns black and falls off, turning to dust.  
> CW: This is the one with major character death so read at your own risk, transphobia mentioned, homophobia mentioned, cursing

"He sat on his mat, legs curled beneath him. His eyes strained to see in the dim light provided by the moon. Even so, he was only looking for one thing and he knew exactly where it should be. Staring at his hands, he used one to gently feel around the other, desperate to know it was a dream. The searching hand found what it wanted and it flew to his mouth, stifling the horrified gasp that surely would have woken his sister if he’d let it out. 

Carefully, he stood and made his way to stand by the window, the ashes of his soul ring cupped in his palm. He felt the tears rolling down his cheeks but he did nothing to wipe them away, instead focusing on keeping his grief quiet. His sister would learn in the morning but this was his burden to carry, not hers. 

Even so, he stood there, staring at the remnants of his soulmate and mourning for a person he never got to meet nor love, long enough for the sun to come up. His sister shifted in her sleep before waking, rolling to find a warmth that wasn’t there. ‘Brother?’ She called out, voice heavy with sleep.

He turned back to the room, a smile breaking behind the tears. ‘It’s alright, I’m here.’

She nodded, curling back into the warmth of the mat. ‘Cows need to be milked.’

‘I’ll do that.’ He walked to the table and grabbed a cheese cloth, gently laying the ashes in the center and folding it up, storing it in his pocket before he went to milk the cows while the dew was still wet on the grass and the air was still heavy with mist. That night, he took some leftover fabric and sewed a pocket into the inside of his shirt. There, he stored the ashes close to his heart, living with them and the memory until his own death.”

~

“She sat on the throne, looking out over the court. Glancing down at her soul ring, she saw it turn a seething red of anger. In this instant, she was inclined to agree with the soulmate she’d never met. In her youth, she’d dreamed of adventuring and meeting him, knowing he was out there somewhere. She’d always been excited to travel to other kingdoms, even if it meant pretending to look for suitors. She’d always glanced around every corner, hoping that was the one he’d be behind. 

That was her youth. She’d wasted it searching for someone who was outside her range of travel. She’d thrown it away for the silly notion of love and soulmates, not realizing that that was something only the common folk got to have. So, she’d eventually settled down with a nice, if dull, prince that made a strong alliance with the vulnerable kingdom next door. It had been a happy life, if as dull as her husband.

She looked out over the crowd, the soldiers standing in her court, the foreigners who had the audacity to invade her kingdom and slaughter her husband right in front of her. Suddenly, her trusted lady-in-waiting came up beside her, leaning to speak in her ear. ‘A word, my queen?’

She looked at her for a moment, trusting with her life. Bowing her head, she rose and stepped behind the curtain that led to a small room off to the side. Her lady-in-waiting’s smile was tinged with sadness as she adjusted her spectacles before smoothing out the queen’s pale blue dress. ‘I have something to confess, my queen.’ She was startled but nodded for her to continue. ‘My soul ring turned pink the first time we met. I suspect yours did too but it was hidden under your gloves.’

Before she could fully process that her soulmate was her lady-in-waiting, her best friend, her closest confidant, the door was ripped open and the men were forcing their way in. The next instant, red met blue as life faded from one set of eyes while tears sprang to another set. Soon, black was fluttering to the ground to mix with the red, purple pooling beneath knees as sharp cries of anguish wrent the air.”

~~

“He pulled on the back of a shirt, saving the man from slipping on the ground slick with drink. The war was over and many were celebrating, but not him. After all, he had nothing to celebrate. There would always be more hate, more violence, more bloodshed in the world. So, he did his best to help where he could but he mainly just stayed out of the way. 

The man smiled and sat opposite him, not talking but looking at his hands. Looking back up, he looked into his eyes and smiled again. ‘I guess I should say hello, soulmate.’

He shushed him, hunching in on himself and trying to keep his hands hidden. ‘Are you really trying to get us arrested?’

The joy in his eyes faded. ‘Right. Those stupid laws are still in effect.’

He nodded. ‘I guess we should say goodbye.’

His soulmate reached out, hands brushing. ‘Does it have to be so soon? Are we not allowed to at least enjoy each other’s company for a few minutes?’

He looked at him, cynicism in his eyes. ‘Is it better to have gotten to know each other, to have loved and lost, to carry that ache across the years until age or circumstances rids the earth of us? Or is it better to have met, to have known the other existed, and gone on our separate ways before getting attached?’

His soulmate looked down into his drink, his hand retreating. 'You’re right, of course. I just thought it’d be nice. To have memories to hang onto, to know something about the person made for you. I’ve only gotten to know you in one other life and you already seem so different. Forgive me for being excited to know you in this life.’

It was his turn to reach out, to take his hand, to gently brush his thumb over the back of his hand. ‘I know. I wish that were possible too. But we both know it’s not. We both know that society and circumstances have not made it to be so. All we can do is wait for our next lives and hope they are better than this one.’

He nodded, giving his hand a tender squeeze before standing and disappearing into the crowds. They never met again in that life but he looked back on that conversation fondly and wept when his ring turned to ash.”

~~~

“The boy in front of him glared, not backing down. ‘No! You leave him alone, you big bully!’

He looked to the larger, older boy in front of his protector. This one was mean looking and was clearly not going to leave them alone until he got what he wanted. So, he pulled on his protector’s sleeve, gaining his attention. As he did so, he could feel the memories of three other lives settle into place, memories of this boy as a stately handmaiden and as a grizzled soldier sitting next to the memory of mourning someone he had yet to meet and never had in that life. 

He stumbled slightly, his protector and soulmate catching him. The older boy pushed past them, grabbing the thing he wanted and leaving them there. He curled into his soulmate, clinging tightly. ‘Don’t leave! Please, don’t leave me!’ He cried, knowing what it meant to be alone.

His soulmate shushed him gently, pulling him closer. ‘Of course not. I’ll always be here for you.’

His soulmate couldn’t have possibly known that he would get adopted the very next week, leaving him alone once again. Another life went by, longingly staring at the shifting colors on his ring and hoping to see his face in the streets. He never did see him again in that life.” 

~~~~

“He walked across the busy road, shoes slapping against the cobblestones in his haste to get to the other side. He glanced back to see someone crossing just behind him. Looking back up, a large carriage with a mean-looking driver came straight at the intersection. 

On instinct, he turned back, pushing the man behind him out of the way. He had just enough time to see their soul rings turn pink, tears gathering in his soulmate’s eyes, before he was trampled under the horses hooves.

He lay staring at the sky, his whole body aching as he struggled to breath. Someone knelt next to him, hands coming to either side of his face. ‘What’s your name?’ His soulmate asked desperately.

He didn’t have time to respond, his hand curling into his soulmate’s shirt as the light slipped from his eyes.”

~~~~~

“She stood at the stove, feeling the heat on her skin with her mind elsewhere. It was across the street, with the pretty housewife that looked so nice in pale purple, the one that made her ring turn pink. She’d known what that’d meant when they’d met, everyone knew what that meant. That didn’t mean anything in this world, where fate was cruel but society was crueler. So, there she stood, staring at the liquid bubbling on the stove while she thought of the smile that should have been for her, the laughter that always rang out the loudest when she told a joke. 

The front door opened and she knew her husband was home. The one her parents had said she’d have to marry, the one who’d asked for her hand for the prestige and children. She glanced at the knife beside her, head running wild with thoughts of taking the meat cleaver to her husband’s skull and running off with her soulmate. 

Instead, she picked up the ladle and sampled the soup, knowing the whim would never work. So, she lived her life, looking at her love over the garden gate, so close but too far.”

~~~~~~

“He set his bag down, looking around at the boarding school. He saw a lone boy, sitting off to the side. Thinking this was a good opportunity to make a friend, he walked over and tried to introduce himself. ‘Hi! I’m new here!’

The boy looked up at him, barely taking his attention from the book in his hands. ‘That’s nice.’

He was undeterred. ‘I’m-’

The boy shut the book with a snap. ‘I’m not interested in knowing anyone. I’m not here to make friends, and I don’t care what your name is.’ With that, he stood and walked away.

He didn’t get the chance to talk to him again until graduation. Even then, it was only briefly as the upperclassman shook his hand. He watched as their rings turned pink. Soon, the ceremony was over and he was running after the boy. ‘Wait!’ 

He sighed but did as asked, turning in his path to allow him to catch up. When he did, the older boy spoke first. ‘So, we’re soulmates. Do you think that changes anything?’

He shook his head, having grown from the naïve boy he’d been. ‘No, I know it doesn’t. All I ask is that you give me a call if you do change your mind.’ He handed him a card with the number to his father’s law office that he was set to inherit.

The boy nodded and took the card. ‘Fine, I can make that deal. Don’t be disappointed if you never get a call from me.’

He waited for that phone to ring but knew it was useless the second his ring turned to ash in the middle of a courtroom. He had to excuse himself to wrap the ashes in a handkerchief, storing it near his heart and wiping tears away for the boy he’d never gotten to love.”

~~~~~~~

“She’d been going about her evening as usual, preparing a cup of tea, when a frantic knocking could be heard at her door. She put her mug down, pulling a shawl around her shoulders as she approached the door. ‘Who is it?’ She called.

Looking at her soul ring, she recognized the pale gray of desperation and hurried to yank it open, knowing what had happened. She’d met her soulmate a few years ago and knew just by looking at her that it was a clearly platonic relationship. The old woman held her arms out for the young teen that soon buried herself in her arms. ‘It’s storming again, Auntie.’

She laughed softly, petting the skittish girl’s hair as she ushered her inside. ‘I know dear. I’m sorry I didn’t expect you to be coming over. Would you like a cup of tea?’

The teen finally pulled away, curling around a pillow on the sofa. ‘That’d be nice, thank you.’

She nodded and moved to make another cup, her thoughts wandering. This was their ninth time together but the only one they’d ever known each other for besides their second life. She would never know if any of those were meant to be platonic or romantic but they sure were treasured. 

She finished making the cup and came to sit beside her soulmate. The teen uncurled slightly, the blanket around her shoulders staying in place but the pillow in her lap sliding down a bit. ‘I used to love thunderstorms you know?’

‘Was that in a past life or in this one?’ The older woman sat in her rocker, pulling a blanket over her lap and picking up the knitting from the basket. 

‘The first life. The rain never really got that intense in the mountains, so we only really saw the lightning from afar. It felt like a treat every time that happened.’

She hummed. ‘That must have been nice.’ She’d been indifferent to thunderstorms in all but one life and that was for a reason unrelated to the soul before her.

Their evening progressed as usual. The teen sipped her tea and calmed her nerves before picking up the book she’d been reading to the older woman, quickly flipping to where they’d stopped last and picking up from there. It was a quiet night, one of peace and little excitement. Then again, that was how she preferred it.”

~~~~~~~~

“He was looking through books, eyes scanning the spines. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for but he knew he’d know it when he found it. He looked with a fervor few would understand, as if he were drowning and the next book to catch his attention would be the air he needed. So, his finger trailed along the spines, checking how each book made him feel before he moved onto the next one, desperate for a book to catch his attention long enough for him to decide to check it out of the library.

He didn’t see the person until he’d run into her. Backing away quickly, he apologized. ‘I’m sorry. I wasn’t watching where I was going.’ 

She just shrugged, bending to pick up the book she’d dropped. Her eyes paused on her hand. Looking down, he saw the pink soul ring. He smiled, bending down to help. ‘I guess I should be saying hello too.’

She giggled, a bubbling laugh that was sweet as sugar. ‘There’s no need for that.’ They both straightened up and she tucked her short hair behind her ear. ‘How about you just tell me what you’re looking so desperately for instead?’

He nodded. ‘I was simply looking for something to touch my very soul. Something so mind provoking or heart wrenching that it would surely evoke some sort of reaction from me.’

‘You use awfully big words there.’ Her hand bunched in her skirt as she stood, as if she didn’t want it there and would have much preferred trousers. 

‘There are times where large words are needed to convey large or complex ideas.’ He’d gotten into using the largest words he could whenever he could as it kept his family from pulling him out of a book to ask a question. 

She smiled. ‘That is true. There are many concepts that are easier to grasp using the harder words. However, it is also easier to use smaller words in order to fully engage with an audience. Do you concur?’

Thus, they spent the rest of the day getting to know each other. Sadly, he never saw her again when she left. A few weeks later, his soul ring turned to ash. The next day’s paper spoke of a woman going about in men’s clothes and being killed for it. He remembered the way his soulmate held himself in the skirt, the way he kept his hair as short as he was allowed and knew that his soulmate’s fate had just been told to him.”

~~~~~~~~~

Virgil closed the book and had to sit back in his chair. “Oh, shit.” He muttered.

Remus looked up from his drawing. “What happened?”

“Oh, nothing. This book just described my past life in complete detail as far as my soulmate knew.”

Remus nodded, pausing his search for the perfect red. “That sounds like your soulmate wrote it. Do you remember anything from the other lives?”

Virgil shrugged. “I mean, I’m lucky I remember that one. After all, most people don’t remember their past lives until they’ve met their soulmate.”

“That’s true. Do you know who wrote it?”

“Yeah.” Virgil flipped the book over to look at the author’s name. “Logan Ackroyd.”

Remus pulled his phone out and did a simple search, pulling up a video first. He moved from his spot on the floor to come sit beside his friend. He pressed play on the video, an interview with the author after his most recent book came out. 

“Tell me, Mr. Ackroyd, how do you come up with your stories?”

The man in the blue suit that Virgil would not admit was incredibly handsome laughed. “I actually get some scenes from my dreams. Most of my stories started as a scene midway through the plot that I then had to scramble to come up with the rest of the story for.”

“What do you do with the idea once you have it?”

“I generally will write it down as soon as I can so as not to lose it. Then, I’ll try to figure out what led the characters there and where they would go from it. Using that as a jumping point, I’ll then plan out the whole novel with a messy outline. That outline gets cleaned up before I start working on the actual piece of literature.”

“So you do think your work counts as literature?”

He sighed. “Literature is a word used to describe anything that has been written down. The word is generally used today to refer to great works of writing but the original usage of the word is still in effect today. Nevertheless, my writing has merit and is not to be discounted simply due to it being primarily same sex romance.”

The interviewer nodded. “Of course. My apologies, Mr. Ackroyd.”

The video ended and Remus went back to the previous tab, scrolling through the search. “It says here he’s having a book signing at the local bookstore in a few days. It’s a walk in kind of thing. He also doesn't seem to be a big name just yet so it’s a good chance you’ll be able to meet him.”

Virgil bobbed his head side to side as he thought. “Yeah, or it could turn out to be a major coincidence and I embarrass myself in front of a bunch of people.”

Remus sighed. “Best case scenario?”

“We’ll be soulmates and we can live a life together.”

“Worst case scenario?”

“He’s not my soulmate and I get mocked and humiliated in front of a large crowd.”

“Most likely to happen?”

Virgil scrunched his nose. “I’ll wimp out and just get a book signed, not even mentioning soulmates.”

Remus nodded. “Good. Shoot for the best case, understand most likely could happen, don’t think about the worst case.”

Virgil emptied his lungs in one long breath before sucking air back in. “Okay. I can do this.” He shook his head once before he opened the book back to the front cover. “Time to reread this whole thing in two days.”

“Dude! That’s a really thick book!”

Virgil smiled. “I used to be able to go through books twice this size in that same time span. It’ll be fine.”

True to his word, Virgil finished the book in time for the signing. He went to the bookstore café combo and watched the staff set up the book signing area. The line wasn’t too long as it was so he finished his drink before joining it.

As he stood there, his eyes were drawn to his soul ring. He’d never paid much attention to it in his life but now he was trying desperately to take his mind off his anxiety. So, he put his feet on autopilot and let his mind rattle around trying to remember the meaning for the soul ring colors. His ring was blue, which meant that his soulmate was calm.

He got to the front of the line and moved to place his book on the table, only for Logan to reach for it at the same time. Their hands brushed and their eyes locked as the object passed between them. In that one moment, Virgil remembered all his past lives, from the city boy who’d died too early to a trans man whose life was taken from him. 

Logan was the first one to pull back, a small gasp escaping his lips at the rush of memories, each lining up with a book he’d written. He blinked, shaking his head as he tried to reorient himself. “May I know who I’m signing this to?” He asked as he opened the book to the front page.

“Virgil Dolle.” His hands twisted together as he tried to stop himself from being too overwhelmed by the rush of memories.

Logan nodded, writing something on a pair of notecards as well as signing the book. One notecard was stuck into the book, the other going into the pocket designed to hold the soul ring ashes. “Alright, Virgil, have a great day.” He handed the book back with a smile.

Virgil walked off, still dazed. Having been here before, the feet that had yet to be taken off autopilot took him to his favorite nook for reading. He curled up in it and looked at the autograph and notecard. The autograph read, ‘To my soulmate, Virgil Dolle. May you have as much joy reading this as I did writing it, Logan Ackroyd.’

His handwriting was strong and sure, no ink blots to show hesitance. Virgil decided he liked it. Picking up the notecard, he read that too. ‘I’m sorry I took so long to find you. It’s almost silly that you were right under my nose the whole time. I hope you can stay long enough for me to finish this and we can have a proper talk.’

Virgil smiled as he put the notecard back in the book. He decided to stay as he scanned the shelves to his left, looking for anything that caught his eye. He remembered that he’d found Logan’s book on this very shelf and a fondness filled his heart. He waited there for a few hours, playing games on his phone, browsing books, and getting up occasionally to order a drink or snack and silently let Logan know he was still there.

He was back in his nook, scrolling through a fanfiction and eating a honey-glazed bun when Logan appeared in his line of sight. He sat down beside him and stretched, his arms reaching above his head. Virgil giggled. “Long day?” He asked, his earlier nerves nowhere to be found as he was perfectly content in this space with someone he’d known for a thousand years.

Logan groaned. “The longest.” He laid his head on Virgil’s shoulder as Virgil turned off his phone and placed his snack on a napkin. They stayed like that for a minute, just soaking in the company neither had known they’d missed until they’d found it again.

Finally, Logan sat up. “Tell me about yourself.”

Virgil smiled. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything you’re willing to share. I want to know you and be known by you, I want to see what I’ve been missing the whole time we’ve been apart. I want to love you the way I was never allowed to love you. I want to know everything you have to say about a topic, your opinions on things, I want to know how your brain works.” Logan shrugged. “I want to know about you.”

Virgil smiled. “Well, I guess my birth is a good place to start.” 

So, they stayed in that bookstore café for a few more hours, telling each other their life stories and how they’d been caused to meet. They exchanged numbers and talked for hours on end about anything and everything, trying to make up for lost time.


	12. Day 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You meet your soulmate in your dreams every night.  
> CW: Food, sleep deprivation.

Logan drifted off with a smile on his face. Soon, he was met with a large room that took up two stories, a bay window that had a lovely area to curl up in, and more bookshelves than anyone could ask for filled to the brim with books on any subject he’d ever learned. Looking out the window would reveal that it was constantly pouring, a gentle rain that released a calm into the air. Upon the seat at the window was a figure in a hoodie, the hood pulled up over his head. His feet were curled beneath him as he sat back against the padded wall. He was deep in a book, lost to the world around him. 

Logan smiled at the sight of his soulmate, walking over to the window seat and the figure curled up on it. “How are you tonight?” His voice was soft, speaking before he approached. 

Virgil looked up, eyes bleary from being dragged out of the story. “Hmm?”

Logan couldn't help but laugh as he sat down next to his soulmate. He knew he wasn’t really his soulmate, just his mind's recreation of him. But he’d been assured that his soulmate acted just like his mind thought he did. Logan didn’t know the science behind it but assumed it was a defense against differences in time zones and sleeping habits or a way of letting soulmates meet, even if one has died.

“Oh, I’m doing fine.” Virgil‘s voice drew him out of his thoughts. 

Logan smiled, shifting so he was sitting with a pillow in his lap and his legs drawn up beside him. He gently patted the pillow, inviting Virgil to lay his head on it. When he did so, Logan began to run his fingers through his hair, having been told that it calms Virgil’s anxiety as it lets him know Logan is there and it feels nice. “Do you have a topic in mind for our talk tonight?” Logan asked absentmindedly.

Virgil shrugged. “I mean, I could always just read to you.”

Logan shook his head, pausing to gently scratch his nails against Virgil’s scalp. “No, I don’t think I’m in the mood for that. Are you?”

“I was simply offering it. If you want to talk about the latest episode of the paranormal podcast I’ve listened to, that’s up to you.”

Logan smiled. “Sure, tell me about that.” And thus, another quiet night was spent with his soulmate in his arms.

The next morning, Logan woke to an empty bed, an empty room, an empty apartment. He got dressed, ate his breakfast, and left for work. That was the thing about seeing his soulmate in his dreams; he got used to it. He got used to seeing him on a regular basis, got used to living with him in his mind. He got used to having Virgil there. It was hard to wake up sometimes, knowing all he had to do was drift off to see him.

He shook himself out of his thoughts when he got to work, his mind switching gears to focus on the lecture of the day. He went about the morning classes productively, until he got to office hours. He’d just sat down at his desk, his door open for students, when a knock sounded. 

“Come in!” He called without looking up.

Footsteps sounded before a voice he would recognize anywhere spoke. “I seem to have gotten a bit turned around. Could you help me find Professor Engel’s office?”

He raised his head, eyes coming to rest on a face he’d only ever seen in his dreams. He smiled. “Are you her new TA, Virgil?”

The man startled. “Have we met before?”

Logan decided to just be cheesy, knowing Virgil loved Disney and secretly loved cheesy things. “Once upon a dream.”

He relaxed, sagging against the door frame. “Great, I just found my soulmate.” He muttered beneath his breath.

Logan chuckled. “Sorry, did I startle you?” He decided to forgo the question of why Virgil didn’t recognize him as he could already see the eye bags that signaled he was not one to sleep often. 

His soulmate shrugged. “Just a little. Seriously, though,” he glanced at the nameplate on the door, “Logan, I really need to know where her office is.”

Logan nodded. “Of course. Take a left at the end of this hall and a right at the end of that one. Her office should be the third door on the right.”

Virgil smiled. “Thanks.” There was a pause as he stood there for a few more seconds. “Should I come back later to discuss the soulmate thing?”

“I’m just doing office hours right now so as long as a student isn’t in here, you’re free to do so.”

Virgil left, coming back in half an hour. In that time, only one student had briefly dropped by in between classes to ask him to clarify something from the syllabus. He made a note to change that to be clearer if he reused that particular syllabus. “Hey, you still open?”

Logan looked up briefly. “I just have to finish this note and then I’m free to talk.”

Virgil took a seat and waited, his fingers fiddling with the lid of the thermos he carried. Logan jotted down the correction on a sticky note before spinning around to stick it to the wall. He let the momentum carry him around a full rotation, coming back around to face Virgil, who was smiling at his antics. 

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

Virgil sighed, his fingers stilling. “How about that stupid law that says that once you meet your soulmate you have to move in with them as soon as possible?”

“Yeah, there’s that. How is your living situation?”

Virgil shrugged. “I’ve just got a small apartment. No pets, no roommates.”

Logan pulled out a notepad and began to jot things down. “How many bedrooms does it have?”

Virgil’s brow furrowed as he frowned. “Why does that matter?” His voice was defensive.

Logan looked up at him. “It matters because I’d prefer to sleep in two separate rooms as we are still practically strangers. This way, we’d be closer to roommates than soulmates and would feel no need to form a romantic relationship if we don’t desire one.” He paused, ignoring the fact that he knew he was already in love with Virgil. “Would you be more comfortable sleeping in the same bed?” 

Virgil shook his head almost too quickly. “No, two bedrooms is ideal. My current apartment only has one.”

Logan made another note. “My apartment has two bedrooms. Is yours close to anything you like, such as a favorite store, park, movie theatre, or even the school?”

Virgil bobbled his head as he thought. “Not really.”

“Mine is only a fifteen minutes drive from most things.” Logan paused as a thought hit him. “Even though my apartment sounds like the obvious choice, would you prefer to find a completely new apartment? It might feel better for both of us to move into something instead of one person moving into the other’s space.”

Virgil smiled. “Yeah, a new apartment sounds nice. You know, this is almost providence as the lease of my current apartment is almost up anyways.”

Logan wrote that down as well. “Do you have anything you are allergic to? Food, creatures, medicine?”

“I can’t have most seafood due to iodine. I’m also allergic to red fire ants. You?”

“I’m allergic to peanuts but you are welcome to have them in the house in any form as long as you make sure to label them and clean up after the mess as even just a bit of the oil on my skin can be dangerous. Other than that, I don’t think so.”

Logan searched through his drawers, pulling out a calendar. He flipped it open to the current month. “Do you have any time that’s good for apartment hunting?”

Virgil pulled his phone out of his hoodie pocket and Logan couldn’t help but notice the Nightmare Before Christmas case he had on it. “Uhh, I’m free on the weekend or any time after three in the afternoon.”

They planned for the next few minutes of where they preferred the apartment to be and what times worked best for them. A few days later, they were out apartment hunting together. They found the one they wanted and applied, managing to get it on the first try. Both of their names were on the lease and they were moving in the next weekend. Logan had his friend Roman come and help while Virgil roped his brother Patton into doing so, finding out the pair were soulmates in the process.

Logan had loved Virgil for about three years now but it was quite clear that Virgil hadn’t been aware of Logan’s existence until they’d met. So, while they were sitting on the floor of their shared apartment and eating a dinner of pizza, Logan decided to ask about it. “Virgil, may I ask about your sleeping habits?”

Virgil put down the slice of pizza he’d been raising to his mouth. “Sure, I don’t see why not.”

“I’m sure you know of seeing your soulmate in your dreams so by all means you should have recognized me on sight, just as I did you. Have you . . . never seen me at all?” Logan was scared. He was scared to think that Virgil had never seen him but was more scared to think that Virgil had chosen to forget about him, chosen to not acknowledge his existence within him. 

Virgil shrugged, a small almost apologetic smile gracing his face. “I don’t sleep.”

Logan’s brow furrowed as a million questions jumped into his brain. “How is that possible? You’d have to sleep eventually.”

“I have pretty bad insomnia. Only one thing seems to have helped but I haven’t been able to do that since I was small. So, I deal with it. I plan around it, drinking energy drinks and caffeine, waiting for the inevitable collapse that comes where I basically just pass out for a few hours. As I’m unconscious, I don’t dream. Thus, I’ve never met my soulmate until you recognized me.”

Logan nodded, wiping his hands on a napkin. “Is there any way I can help? You mentioned something you could do to help it?”

“No, there’s nothing you can do to help although I appreciate the offer.”

With that, the conversation changed to a different topic while Logan’s mind wandered. He wondered if there was anything he could do to help. Determined, he silently promised to be the best housemate anyone could ever ask for. He was going to be quiet whenever possible and make sure to stay out of Virgil’s way. He’d pretend to not even be there for much of the time. 

That lasted a week before the system broke down. Logan had been sitting on the couch doing some work when Virgil came home, looking even more exhausted than usual. Logan began to gather his things, meaning to move to his room to give Virgil space. As he did so, he glanced up at his roommate, who looked close to tears.

Logan instantly dropped everything he had, not caring about the scattering of his neat piles, to move over to Virgil, hands hovering. “Is something wrong? Did something bad happen?”

Virgil dropped his bag. “Do you really hate me that much?” His voice was watery and he looked even closer to tears now.

Logan paused, confusion plain on his face. “What do you mean? Why would I hate you?” His voice was as soft as he could make it, trying to be gentle with his sleep deprived soulmate.

“You always leave the room as soon as I walk in, you only talk to me when I speak first. Do you really hate me already?”

Logan shook his head. “No! I don’t hate you, quite the opposite in fact.”

Virgil sniffled, wiping his nose on his sleeve. “Then why do you avoid me so much?”

“I don’t mean to avoid you. My intention was to give you space so you don’t feel like I forced you to move in with me.” Logan had no idea what to do about the sleep deprived TA in front of him so he was as sincere as possible. 

Virgil nodded before shuffling over to the couch and dropping onto it. “Don’t. Just stay.”

Logan got the hint and sat back down, beginning to fix his piles. He glanced over at Virgil every once in a while, seeing he was in the same position of sitting with his head thrown back and eyes closed. He eventually sat back as he set up his computer on his lap. It was then that Virgil tilted to the side, his head ending up on Logan’s shoulder. Logan froze, waiting for Virgil to move or say something. Instead, his roommate and soulmate just snored. 

Logan smiled, taking the opportunity to kiss the top of his head and whisper, “Sleep well,” before going back to his work.

When he woke, Virgil stirred and Logan’s hand came up to cradle Virgil’s head, quietly shushing him. Virgil pulled away entirely but still sat close. Logan put down his book and looked over at him. “Did you have a nice nap? I tried to be quiet so as to not interrupt it.”

Virgil smiled. “I dreamt for the first time in ten years.”

Logan was surprised but happy. “Oh, that’s nice. Did you enjoy the experience? I find it rather calming myself.”

Virgil nodded. “I did. Although, I do have a few questions for you.”

“I’ll answer them as best I can.”

“Did our conversation before I fell asleep actually happen or was that part of the dream?”

“You came home and got upset when you saw me begin moving back to my room. You expressed a feeling of inadequacy that I corrected as best I could. Is that the conversation you were thinking of?”

Virgil nodded. “Okay, so, how do you feel about me?”

Logan reached out, as if he wanted to cradle Virgil’s face. “I don’t want to tell you the extent of my emotions as I’m not sure you’re ready for them. I can say that I don’t hate you in the slightest.” He hesitated. “Do you hate me?”

Virgil was quick to shake his head, hand reaching out to rest on Logan's arm. “I may not have had enough time yet to accurately gauge your personality but I like what I’ve seen so far.”

Logan nodded and he felt like there was a weight lifted from his shoulders. “Okay. In that case, I think we need to establish some house rules.”

They discussed at length such things as shared spaces and personal ones, communication of needs, and communication in general. Then, as it was already getting to their usual eating time, they both made their way to the kitchen. Logan started looking through the fridge. “Hey, how was the latest episode of your paranormal podcast?” He popped his head out of the fridge to look at Virgil. “Sorry, I just realized how creepy that could sound.”

Virgil just shrugged, settling onto a clean and out of the way part of the counter. “It’s fine. I’m always willing to talk about that thing as no one else seems to care.”

Logan pulled out ingredients for pancakes before closing the door. “Well, I enjoy hearing about it and find it a calming part of my routine.” He didn’t mention that he found Virgil looked his best when he was animated and talking about a topic he enjoyed. He didn’t mention that he could watch and listen to him for hours, never getting bored of him. He didn’t say it, knowing that it’s too soon and it would freak him out. So, instead, he listened to him ramble with a smile on his face, occasionally making comments to spur him down a different rabbit hole. 

The rest of the month went smoothly. They got to know each other over that time, Logan learning the small things that showed that Virgil was alive and not just his imagination and Virgil learning everything there was to know about Logan. Logan made sure to answer any question he had and gave him as much information as he could while doing so. 

It was toward the end of the month when it happened. Logan had just been drifting off when he heard a soft knock at his door. Sitting up, he fumbled for his glasses case and the lamp switch. “Virgil? Is that you?” He called quietly.

The door opened with a barely audible click, Virgil coming to stand in the doorway. Logan finally got his glasses on to see Virgil in his nightclothes, fingers playing with the ends of his too long sleeves. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” His voice sounded different, softer and more scared than Logan had ever heard from him. 

Logan smiled, gesturing for him to come in. “It’s alright. Is there something I can help with?”

“I can’t sleep.” It almost sounded like an apology.

Logan nodded, sitting up fully and crossing his legs beneath his weighted blanket. “Okay. Do you want me to talk with you for a bit?”’

“I was actually hoping you could . . . Nevermind, this was stupid.” He turned to go.

Logan stood, reaching Virgil in a few strides. He didn’t try to stop him, but did put a gentle hand on his arm. “Hey, no. Your needs and wants are valid. Talk to me, please.”

Virgil shrugged. “I fell asleep on your shoulder a month ago and dreamt for the first time in ten years. I don’t know, I guess I was just wondering if I could try that again.”

Logan smiled. “You want to try to sleep with physical contact?”

“Yeah, that.” Virgil sounded relieved that he didn't have to explain himself further.

“Okay. Come on in and make yourself comfortable.”

In a few minutes, they were curled up together in bed. Virgil was on his stomach, head on Logan's chest, while Logan had his arms wrapped around his roommate. The lamp had been turned off and Logan’s glasses had been safely returned to their case. After being in a similar position with his imagination’s fabrication of Virgil, Logan raised a hand to card through Virgil’s hair. He realized what he was doing and stopped, putting the hand flat on the mattress.

Virgil tilted his head to look at Logan. “You don’t have to stop. That felt kind of nice, actually.”

Logan smiled, his hand going back to the familiar rhythm that calmed him even after years of doing it. They both soon drifted off like that, held in each other’s arms and perfectly content. In the morning, Virgil told Logan he’d dreamt again and they celebrated a little before they had to get to work.

Soon, that became a recurring event. Sometimes, it was three nights a week that Logan would find Virgil curled up beside him, sometimes it was less or more. After the third week in a row of this behavior, Logan had to sit down and talk with Virgil about it. They worked out that having physical contact with another human helped Virgil sleep, something about his anxiety calming when he felt protected. 

One night, Virgil was curled against Logan, who was reading aloud in an attempt to lull Virgil to sleep. Virgil reached up, his hand coming to curve around Logan’s jaw and pause his reading. Leaning closer, Virgil softly planted a kiss on Logan’s cheek and muttered, “I love you, soulmate.”

Logan turned, kissing Virgil’s palm. “I love you too, soulmate.” He closed the book and set it aside, turning off the lamp before sliding deeper into the bed and curling around Virgil. They both fell asleep, comfortable, protected, and loved.


	13. Day 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is born with a superpower, but when soulmates are together, their powers are nullified by each other.  
> ~~  
> Logan is able to summon small items while Virgil is able to make shadows tangible. He can’t create new shadows but he can manipulate the ones around him.  
> CW: Food.

Virgil threw the incorporeal ball up, letting it bounce against the ceiling before falling back down into his hands. “No, you’re not listening to me. We told you that if you had any complaints that the tenth was the last day to say so.”

“But we didn’t have any complaints then.”

Virgil briefly muted himself as a growl of frustration left his throat. “Well then, Barbara, I think you might be out of luck. You’ve gone past the return policy date so it’s no longer valid. I have no way of helping you.”

“I want to speak to your manager.”

Virgil could have laughed at that cliché line. “Alright, just give me a moment to transfer you.” He put her on hold and called his superior. “We’ve got another customer trying to claim a return policy after the sixty day guarantee.”

Emily sighed. “Alright, send them my way.” Virgil did just that before leaning back in his chair with a sigh of his own.

He sat there, staring at the ceiling for a few minutes while he wondered if this was worth it, before he stood with a groan, hands on the small of his back. He opened the door to his office and made his way to the break room. Logan Croft was there, making another pot of coffee.

“Greetings.” Logan said as Virgil opened the fridge.

“Hey. How’s work going for you?”

Logan shrugged. “The plans are coming along nicely. At this point, we’re just waiting to be told that we have the funds for it. How about you? You don’t seem to be doing so well.”

Virgil pulled out a pudding cup and grabbed a spoon. “Eh. Just had another entitled Karen on my hands but nothing too bad.”

“As you’ve once said, ‘Oof’.”

Virgil doubled over laughing at Logan’s monotone. “Sorry!” He said when he got his breath back. “That was just the best comedic timing you’ve had in awhile.”

Logan gave him a closer look. “You’re also exhausted aren’t you?”

“Yeah, that too.”

Logan sighed. “What time did you get to sleep last night?”

Virgil shrugged. “I don’t know, about three?”

Logan looked ready to hit him with a spoon. “Virgil, you know that isn’t healthy.”

Virgil just shrugged. Roman came in and sighed. “Is there coffee left?”

“Yes.” Logan answered simply.

Roman poured himself a cup, adding milk and sugar before taking a sip. “Ugh, it’s still only lukewarm.” He dipped a finger in the liquid before his hand started glowing and the liquid bubble slightly.

Logan sighed. “I would ask that you refrain from using your powers during work hours.”

Roman just shrugged and walked out, tossing a, “Whatever,” over his shoulder.

Virgil frowned before deciding it was best to ignore that. “So, you got any dirt on anyone lately?”

Logan’s whole expression changed as his face got more animated and he leaned in conspiratorially as Virgil stuck his spoon in his mouth. “Yes, I do! I heard that Emily and Sara found that their powers don’t work around each other! It also seems that Remus also started another prank war with Patton while Janus is trying to give Patton daily puns.”

Virgil smiled, the thumping of his heart reminding him just how large of a crush he had on this nerd. “Oh really? I heard that Roman and Remus are actually siblings.”

Logan gasped. “Really?! Have you heard anything about Remy yet?”

Said person stood in the doorway. “Are you two gossiping again? What have I told you about that?”

Virgil’s back straightened. “Not to do so without you.” He recited.

Remy smiled, coming over to pour himself a cup. “Good. So, spill.”

They spent the rest of their fifteen minutes exchanging office news before Virgil had to go back to dealing with the humans.

The next day, it seemed he and Remy got to the break room first as Logan was nowhere in sight. Virgil sidled up to Remy. “You got anything new?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you and Logan are soulmates.”

“What?!” Virgil had to struggle to keep his voice down. “Where did that come from?”

“Have you ever used your powers around him? Has he ever used them around you?”

“He always says not to use them during office hours so I try not to use them around him.”

Remy shrugged, pouring his pumpkin spice creamer in despite it being the middle of May. “Not even in an emergency? Not even when it was raining and he could have easily summoned an umbrella for himself?”

Virgil paused, his mind racing through every encounter he’d ever had with Logan. There were times when his shadow ball dissipated when Logan abruptly showed up at his door but Virgil had always attributed that to losing concentration. Logan had also looked like he’d tried to summon things occasionally in the way that he held a hand out as if a marker or pointer was going to fall into it, holding the hand out to the side for an umbrella that never showed up. Logan always claimed that his powers were finicky, probably needing the object to be in the same place he’d left it for it to work.

“Okay, so we’re soulmates. What now?” If Virgil had been paying attention to the door, he would have noticed Logan come into earshot just as he said that. He would have noticed Logan’s crestfallen expression, the way he put a fresh bouquet of flowers onto Yeonjoo’s desk, the way he walked off, heart broken. Instead, he was focused on his conversation with Remy and didn’t notice him.

“Well, I’d assume you go talk to him, or at least ask him out.”

Virgil nodded, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Yeah, ask him out. Do you know if he has anything scheduled for lunch?”

Remy splayed his hands out. “What do I look like, his secretary?” He sighed. “No, he doesn’t have anything scheduled.”

Virgil smiled, giving him a small hug around the shoulders. “You’re the best!”

He ignored the pit in his stomach as he fielded calls, eyes glancing at the clock every five minutes. When it came time for lunch break, he popped out of his chair and rushed to Logan’s office just as the other man was putting on his jacket.

“Do you want to go to lunch with me?” Virgil asked in a single breath, the question coming out as more of a string of letters without spaces than a genuine sentence.

Logan blinked. “One more time, but slower.”

“Do you want to go to lunch with me?”

“Oh, I would have assumed you’d want to go with your soulmate, not me.”

Virgil frowned before understanding what happened. “I thought you were taught to check your facts, mister.”

“Isn’t Remy your soulmate?”

Virgil shook his head, the pit in his stomach being replaced with a smile on his lips. “We were talking about my soulmate but he’s not it.”

Logan nodded, hope blooming in his eyes. “Okay, in that case, I guess I will come with you.”

Virgil linked arms with him as they left. Once they got to the usual place, Virgil spoke again. “Aren’t you even the slightest bit curious who my soulmate is? Or even why I asked to eat lunch with you?”

Logan shrugged, his eyes scanning the menu they’d both already seen a dozen times as they tended to come here often. “You will tell me in your own time. It’s also not uncommon for us to ask each other to lunch.”

Virgil leaned forward, using a finger to push Logan’s menu down so he could look him in the eyes. “You’re my soulmate, dummy. I’ve also had a crush on you for over a year now. Go out with me?”

Logan sighed, a smile spreading across his face. “Of course.”


	14. Day 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Logan learns sometimes having a soulmate can bite you… or at least… it can threaten to bite you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first words you hear your soulmate speak are written on your arm.  
> CW: Allusions to vomit (it happens but is never expressly mentioned or described), mentions of food, and a threat of harm that is never followed through.

Logan had always wondered what he’d do to get the words “If you take one step closer I’ll bite you,” written on his arm. His parents had been horrified at them and put a cuff over it but Logan had removed it when he’d turned eighteen. So far, he’d never entered a situation in which someone’s first words to him would be nearly as violent as that.

This is probably why it was such a shock when he’d heard them in the least likely place. Thanks to waiting for the last second to sign up, his class schedule for his second semester at college had resulted in a three hour wait that he was too stubborn to go home for. So, he waited in the building, using the time to get ahead of his homework and eat lunch.

He’d just gotten to the bathroom when he heard what sounded like heavy breathing. Looking under the stalls, he found someone curled up in the far corner of the largest one. “Is anyone in here?” He asked as he knocked on the door, letting the person know he was there.

He got a grunt in reply so decided to slide under the door, vowing to thank the janitorial staff the next time he saw them. He stood, brushing the dirt off and straightening his tie, eyes glancing to the person still huddled in the corner. He found the alternative emo boy from a few seats down in half his classes sitting there, clutching his stomach.

“Are you okay?” He tried to remember if he ever heard him respond during attendance checks.

The emo glared at him, head still close to the toilet bow. “If you take one step closer, I’ll bite you.” He growled, voice hoarse.

Logan looked down at his wrist. “Well then.” He took a step closer but stopped when the smell from the toilet hit him. “Oh my goodness gracious.” He muttered.

He remembered the emo’s name just as said classmate hissed at him. Logan just sighed. “Stay here, I’ll be back in a second.”

Virgil glared, managing to spit out a snarky, “Where do you think I’m gonna go,” before he was ducking his head back over the toilet.

Logan unlocked the stall and walked to the backpack he’d left at the hooks for coats. He opened his food pocket and pulled out the pack of gluten-free crackers and small water bottle he kept there for just this exact situation. After a moment of thought, he grabbed the baggie of generic antacids he kept in a nearby pocket. He reentered the stall to find Virgil with his head against the wall and eyes firmly closed.

“May I ask if you know what brought this on?” Logan asked, crouching next to him.

Virgil’s eyes opened, bleary and unfocused. “Yeah, anxiety over having to do a presentation in an hour or so.”

Logan nodded. “Alright, here’s some crackers. I don’t know about you but I’m allergic to gluten so you’ll have to deal with the bland gluten-free ones. Here’s some water to wash it down. These should help settle your stomach. Have you eaten anything today?”

Virgil gratefully took the offered items, slowly making his way through a cracker while shaking his head. “Nope, I didn’t have time.” He took a swig of the water bottle Logan had opened.

Logan sighed, sitting next to him, one foot planted on the ground while the other leg curled up. “Okay, then these crackers will really help. Did you pack a lunch? You have time to eat that if your next class is the one I’m thinking it is.”

Virgil glared at him. “You memorized my classes?”

“No, I just know we share quite a few classes and know our next one has presentations instead of a lecture.”

Virgil nodded, his head leaning back against the cool wall. “You must think I’m pitiful.”

Logan smiled, his hand reaching out to rest gently on Virgil’s knee. “Far from it. It’s not your fault that you are the way you are. In fact, with how much you speak up in class, I’d consider you to be rather feisty and intelligent, never afraid to speak your mind. It’s something quite admirable in my opinion.”

Virgil squinted at him. “Are you sure you have the right classmate?”

“I know I have the right soulmate and I think that’s all that matters.”

Virgil brought his wrist up to look at, staring at it for a few seconds before glancing at Logan’s wrist. “So we are. Huh, I’m almost tempted to apologize for giving you that.”

“And what? Let me not know that my soulmate is amazing? I’d rather keep it if it’s all the same to you.”

Virgil chuckled. “Alright then.”

Logan gave it a few more minutes but when the crackers seemed to stay in Virgil’s stomach, he stood and offered a hand to his soulmate. “I think we’re in the clear.”

Virgil took the helping hand and stood, flushing the toilet before they both exited the stall. The emo took the time to gargle with the rest of the water bottle, spitting into the sink. “Ah, that feels better.”

Logan smiled, walking to pick his backpack up. “Is this one yours?” He called, holding up the other one. Upon getting confirmation, Logan brought it over for him. “I think we still have about a half hour until class if you want to sit and talk, get to know one another while we eat lunch?”

Virgil smiled, situating the backpack. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”

When they had to go to class, they sat next to each other instead of down the aisle from each other. Logan gave Virgil’s hand an encouraging squeeze when the emo went to do his presentation. Virgil reciprocated the squeeze when it was the prep’s turn. They ended up talking after class too, promising to go get ice cream for their first official date.


	15. Day 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's impossible to lie to your soulmate.  
> CW: Tooth-rotting fluff ahead.

Virgil smiled as Logan sent him off to the grocery store. He’d known Logan was up to something but was using diversions to get him out of the house. Nevertheless, Virgil allowed it. He did text him if he could think of anything else they needed from the store and Logan just told him ‘nothing I can think of, dear’, which was a dead giveaway that something was going on.

The shopping trip obviously didn’t last as long as Logan wanted it to as, as soon as Virgil texted that he was on the way home, Logan redirected him somewhere else. He was sent to the bakery to pick up donuts that Logan doesn’t normally eat. Then, a fast food restaurant to pick up subs for dinner.

Once that was done, he didn’t get a new task so returned home. He opened the door with his arms lined with bags of groceries, too stubborn to take multiple trips, and the boxes of donuts in his hands.

“Surprise!” Logan softly exclaimed, flicking on the lights.

Virgil looked around. The entrance way was covered with streamers, balloons hanging from the ceiling. There were decorations everywhere in blue, purple, and black. “Babe, what’s going on?”

Logan sighed, walking over to help with the bags. “Did you really forget our anniversary?”

Virgil wanted to play it cool, to say, ‘No’, but what came out of his mouth instead was, “Yeah . . . Oops?”

Logan just chuckled, leaning up to kiss his soulmate on the cheek. “You and that scatterbrain of yours.”

Virgil laughed. “Excuse me, who’s the scatterbrain? Mr. ‘I forgot my own birthday, I was so focused on my science project’.”

Logan playfully shoved his shoulder as he walked to the fridge. “Hey! That was one time!”

Virgil just pushed him back, equally gentle. “And this was one time! Don’t even try giving the excuse that this was more decorated, love. I decorated for the forgotten birthday too! We even ended up eating the cake the next night because you forgot!”

Logan put the last item in the fridge and closed it, walking over to wrap his arms around Virgil’s waist and kiss his ticklish neck. “Aw, come on, dearest. Light of my life. My beloved. Love. Soulmate. Husband.” He kissed his neck between pet names.

Virgil lasted as long as he could before he broke down, turning to pick Logan up by the waist and set him on the counter. “You minx.” He muttered as he leaned in for a real kiss.

Logan hummed into the kiss, his arms coming up to twine around Virgil’s neck and draw him closer.

“Gross!” They heard from behind Virgil. They broke apart and Virgil turned, leaning his head on Logan’s shoulder so they could look at their eight year old.

Virgil looked serious for all of five seconds before he split into a grin. “Get over here, twerp.” He laughed.

Patton scrambled over, skidding into Virgil’s legs and wrapping his arms around him. Virgil bent down and picked him up, cradling him in his arms as he leaned over his head to kiss Logan’s cheek. Patton squealed.

Logan giggled as he pulled back, putting Patton next to him. “Are there any more groceries?”

Virgil looked at the island. “There’s a few more bags but I can handle them.” He put the rest of the bags away himself while talking with Logan about the scientist’s day and the new lab frustrations.

“I mean, why does Doug not wash his hands after dealing with certain specimens?! Also, I know the geology department is allowed to get away with it, but why do they keep using their specimens to prop the door open?”

Virgil giggled at that. Logan’s hand paused its path through Patton’s hair. “You think that’s funny?”

Virgil shrugged. “I mean, a little bit. Come on, bioscientist, admit it. You’re just jealous you’re not allowed to do that.”

Logan pretended to be offended for about ten seconds before he too dissolved into giggles. “Okay, you’re right, it’s funny.”

One the groceries were put away and the subs were in the fridge, the family moved to the living room. Patton curled up on a beanbag while Logan and Virgil claimed the love seat. They put on the movie the couple had seen on their second date, laughing and making commentary the whole way through.

They ate dinner, saving the donuts for breakfast tomorrow. After dinner, it was one more movie before Patton had to go to bed. Both parents came up to kiss him goodnight and tuck him in before they were back downstairs, cuddling under a blanket and watching a stupidly cheesy rom-com as was tradition.

After the movie ended, they sat there, talking in the darkness, telling each other how much they loved them, how much the other meant to them. Logan knew Virgil got shy easily and preferred the lights off when confessing how much Logan meant to him. Virgil knew Logan loved him more than words could express but it was still nice to hear him say it.

Soon, they were drifting to sleep in each other’s arms.


	16. Day 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When your soulmate listens to music or is singing, you hear it in your own head as well.

Logan heard a familiar song begin blasting at what must have been full volume and winced. That was the song his soulmate tended a lot. Logan hadn’t really understood what it was for until the third song in what must have been a playlist came on, the singer saying how they had anxiety when apart from someone. Logan knew then that it was probably a playlist they made for when they were having bad anxiety. He began to sympathize with that, almost curious to see if he could find the playlist somewhere.

Soon, he noticed the patterns of what time of day his soulmate usually turned that playlist on, beginning to gauge how bad the day had been by how soon any music was turned on. After the first few times he guessed correctly, he started putting on soothing music.

The first time he’d put on a lullaby playlist he’d created just for his soulmate, he could almost feel them relax. He smiled, knowing he was on the right track. He began to have the playlist going as often as he could as a way of helping his soulmate keep calm. He threw in new songs randomly so neither would get bored of it.

He hadn’t quite realized the extent of the effect it had on his soulmate until they played a song that, when Logan searched the lyrics, was titled, “Thank you”. It was then that he knew he was making a difference. So, he kept at it. He kept adding songs to the playlist until eventually he heard them being played even when he wasn’t playing them.

He’d been keeping the playlist on Musorama, a music app that suited his needs. He’d only really downloaded it so Remus could send him weird songs at two in the morning but he didn’t care. Seeing as he got a new friend request from someone called StormingInDetroit, he guessed it might be his soulmate. He scrolled through the other user’s playlists and found one titled “When the World is Too Loud”. Flipping through it, he found a lot of the same songs he’d heard from his soulmate.

He accepted the friend request and went about his day, humming. Eventually, he heard a song being played. Listening for a few seconds, and figured out the song was “What’s That Tune?”. He chuckled, standing to close his office door. Sitting back in his chair, he began to sing instead. His singing wasn’t bad but he knew it wasn’t that good either. He sang the song he’d been thinking about, the one stuck in his head for a few days.

When it was finished, his soulmate played a song that asked for more. His laughter was more of a bubble than a rumble this time, closer to a giggle than a chuckle. Still, he got to work while continuing to sing, singing as much of the song as he could remember.

He’d been having a rough day and hadn’t been able to play the lullaby playlist. Instead, he tried to hum it quietly to himself. Soon, he heard the playlist being played by his soulmate and could feel himself relax into his chair, the tension leaking out of his body. He hadn’t realized how tightly wound he’d been until the sound of the music calmed his nerves enough to unravel. 

Later that day, he was walking along the street when he bumped into someone with headphones on. The bump caused the cord to be tangled up with Logan’s things, the headphones falling out. Logan apologized as he paused to untangle himself. His movements stilled as his brain made the connection between bumping into the stranger and the music from his soulmate cutting off. He looked up at the person standing before him.

“This might sound weird but, are you my soulmate?”

The person scoffed. “Like I haven’t heard that one before.” They made to leave.

Logan held out an arm, blocking their path. “I was just listening to my soulmate’s music before it cut off. Earlier today, I was singing to them. Does that sound familiar?”

The person he highly suspected of being his soulmate paused. “Yeah, it does. What song were you singing?”

He told him while hope bloomed in Logan’s chest, wanting to know the soulmate he’d only communicated with by song until now.

They smiled, hand searching in their skirt pocket for their phone. “Yeah, that sounds right. Hey, do you have time to get coffee? I’d love to ask you about your choice in music.”

Logan smiled. “For you, I have all the time in the world.”


	17. Day 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone has heterochromia, the left eye is your natural color, the right is your soulmate’s natural color. Once you meet all eyes return to natural color.  
> CW: Alcohol, mentions of weapons.

Roman scanned the bar for his contact, recalling the description he was given. He found someone that looked like they could fit: blue suit, glasses, curly hair, short. The only difference is he was told his contact had a face of stone while this one was smiling widely. He decided to take his chances anyways.

Standing from his chair, he walked over and sat on the bar stool next to his suspected contact. He turned, facing him with a smile. Gathering his charm, he said his code. “I don’t know if you swing this way, but I have to shoot my shot.”

The man glanced at him with a giggle before looking back down at the drink he was nursing. “If I’ve got the bat and you’ve got the gun, who’s got the sword?”

Roman breathed out a sigh of relief. “How about we take this back to my room so we can talk a bit? It’s quite loud in here.”

The man nodded and took his hand, sliding off his stool. “That sounds nice.”

Roman led the man back to his room, closing the door behind them. The still smiling man sat in a chair in the corner. “So, I guess we should start with names.”

Roman frowned, pausing in his rummaging through the closet. “It’s never wise to give out your name so soon.”

The man sighed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Roman found the briefcase he wanted but paused before pulling it out. He turned, seeing the other’s crestfallen expression. “Do you really want to get to know each other? I mean, we might not see each other again.”

The man shrugged, avoiding looking at Roman. The agent crossed the room, kneeling before the man on the chair. “What’s your name, handsome?”

The man glanced up, making eye contact with Roman. “Patton.” He breathed out as he watched Roman’s right eye change to match his left. Roman watched the faint shimmering of Patton’s eye changing.

Roman smiled. “Well, isn’t this interesting. My name is Roman, but you can just call me ‘soulmate’.”

Patton giggled. “I’ll take you up on that, soulmate.”

Roman ignored the way his heart fluttered at that, instead standing and moving to pick the briefcase up again. He picked it up and walked back over. Patton seemed confused, his brows drawn in a frown. “What’s that for? I thought we were just talking.”

Before Roman could answer, a knock sounded at the door. He put a finger up, silently asking Patton to hold that thought, and looked through the peephole. When he did, a lot of things started to make sense. The man on the other side of the door fit the description of his contact to a T, down to the face of stone. The man’s blue and green eyes stared at Roman through the peephole, faint annoyance the only emotion on his face.

Roman glanced at Patton, down at the briefcase in his hand, and back at the man. “Things make more sense now.” He said before opening the door a crack.

The man tapped his foot. “Forgetting something?” He asked.

Roman laughed nervously. “So, funny story. You’re really gonna laugh when you hear it.”

The man’s expression didn’t change. “I doubt that.”

Roman let him in, closing the door quickly afterward. Patton gave the man a small wave. “Hi!”

The man sighed. “I see the issue.”

Roman laughed again. “Yeah, sorry about that.”

He nodded, his lips drawn into a thin line. “Just give me the . . . _item_ and I’ll be on my way.”

Roman startled, remembering the briefcase in his hands. “Oh, right! I’m pretty sure everything is in here.” He handed it over.

The man laid it across his forearm, snapped it open with the other hand and flipped through the documents inside. “This will be adequate.” He looked over his glasses at Roman, who was twisting his hands together behind his back. “Be more careful next time.”

Roman nodded as the man left, bumping into another person on his way out. “Oh, sorry.”

The other person seemed starstruck and Roman saw their right eye turn green. “That’s perfectly fine, soulmate.” The man in the suit sighed but dragged his new soulmate along as Roman shut the door.

Turning back to Patton, he smiled. “So, where were we?”

Patton spluttered. “Roman, who was that? What did he want? What did you give him?”

Roman sighed. “I was afraid you’d ask that.” He walked over, leaning down to rest his hands on the arms of the chair. “I might have to kill you now.”

Patton chuckled nervously, not unlike Roman’s own nervous laughter not three minutes ago. “You’re pulling my leg, aren’t you?”

Roman’s face split into a grin, his stoic expression gone. “Yup!” He launched himself away from the chair, spinning into the center of the room. “That was a friend of mine coming to pick up an edited manuscript. I was supposed to give it to him in the bar but got a bit sidetracked.” Patton giggled again, this time sounding more relaxed. “Thus,” Roman continued, “he had to come to the room and pick it up.” Roman took the opportunity to sit on the bed, one leg crossing over the other. “So, tell me about yourself, soulmate. I want to know everything there is to know about you.”

So, their conversation lasted until the early morning hours. The rising sun found them both asleep on the bed, tangled in the sheets and each other.


	18. Day 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your soulmate's first impression/thoughts about you are written somewhere on your body.  
> CW: Food mention.

Logan sighed as he laid his head next to Virgil’s, hands intertwined. “Virgil?”

His boyfriend hummed. “Yes, dear?”

“Do you ever wonder if we’re soulmates?”

Virgil laughed, taking his eyes off the stars littering the night sky to look at him instead. “I don’t wonder. I’m positive.”

Logan turned his head to stare into Virgil’s eyes. “How can you be so sure?”

“It’s in the way our hands fit so well together, the way our thoughts align so often, the way I can say something and you always know the next thing and vis versa, the way you know exactly what to do to cheer me up, how I know when to give you space and when to drag you to do something. Soulmates might be found by the words written on skin, but they can also be created by hard work and communication. We’ve done the hard work, we’ve communicated to the best of our abilities. So what if my first thoughts of you aren’t written somewhere on you or your first impression of me isn’t hiding behind my ear. That doesn’t mean anything in the long run.”

Logan smiled, snuggling into Virgil’s side to hide his apprehensive expression. “I know. I know all of that and more. It’s just nagging at me. What if we’re not meant to be?”

Virgil huffed, wrapping an arm around him. “Did you hear nothing of the part where I said fate doesn’t define us?”

Logan giggled. “I heard it. I’m just worried.”

“Alright, you wanna know what my first impression of you was?”

Logan pulled back, looking into Virgil’s eyes. “You don’t have to tell me.”

Virgil gently pulled him back down. “I want to. Now, hush and listen.” He squirmed a bit, getting comfortable. “I remember it was just as you came on stage for your lecture. My first thoughts on you could probably be summed up in a verbal keysmash followed by ‘I’m so gay’.”

Logan chuckled. Reaching down, he felt the space along his lower leg that he knew held his soulmates first thoughts of him. Pulling his skirt up, he twisted his upper body to look at what was written there. Sure enough, “I’m so gay” was written in elegant cursive.

Logan laughed again at that. “Well, I guess that settles that part.”

Virgil smiled, propping himself up on his elbows to look at the looping letters. “So, do I get to hear your first impression of me?”

Logan nodded, settling back against Virgil’s chest. “It was after the lectures had finished, when all the seminar guests were just lingering and talking. I remember seeing you across the room and thinking, ‘That person looks like they’re well put together. Maybe I can get a good conversation out of them.’ So, I went over and struck up a conversation. I’m pleasantly surprised by the person I got to know through that one conversation.”

Virgil smiled, tilting his head to show the same words Logan just said written in neat print behind his ear, curving along with his hairline. Logan giggled again, tracing the letters. “They match.”

Virgil smiled, swooping him into a hug. The sudden movement caused them both to go rolling down the hill they’d been stargazing on, landing in a tangle of limbs and fabric at the base. Both had laughed the whole way down, shrieking when they first started rolling. 

They stopped at the bottom of the hill and just laid there for a minute, trying to catch their breaths. When they did, Virgil carefully disentangled from Logan, helping him up. “So, ice cream?”

Logan laughed, linking his arm with his soulmate’s. A goofy smile came to his face at that thought and he nodded, feeling giddy. “Sounds great!” 


	19. Day 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is born with a compass on their wrist, the needle of the compass points towards your soulmate.  
> CW: Miscommunication.

Virgil’s thumb ran over the compass needle, comforted by the raised skin telling him he wasn’t alone. For as long as he’d been aware of it, he’d loved it. Loved knowing there was someone on the other end of it, loved knowing he wasn’t trudging through life alone, that no matter how broken and messed up he thought he was there was always going to be someone out there destined to love him.

He was jostled out of his thoughts by the sound of someone calling his name. Looking up, he found it was his turn to present. He took a deep breath, let his thumb brush over the compass one last time, and moved to do it. Once he was up there, he performed with minimal flaws.

He collapsed back into his chair, mentally exhausted already and the morning wasn’t even over yet. He stared at his compass needle, watching the tip waver slightly but stay steady in the same direction, off to his right and behind him slightly. He smiled at the thought of his soulmate being the north for his compass.

He tuned back into the meeting as his supervisor stood. “Now, we’ve only got one last order of business.” Roman said, hands on his hips as he tried to grab everyone’s attention. “We have a new member on the development team so if you could all give him a warm welcome, that’d be appreciated.”

Virgil shrugged and clapped half-heartedly. A man stood as Virgil watched his compass shift, following the man’s movements as he made his way to the front of the room and stood beside their supervisor. He straightened his tie, allowing Virgil to notice that his compass was covered with a wide leather cuff. “Salutations. My name is Logan Kelsey and I’m pleased to have joined the team.”

An hour later, Virgil was staring at his wrist. He twisted in his chair, watching the needle swing back and forth, staying steady on Logan across the room. He still had Roman’s voice ringing in his ears, asking Virgil to partner with Logan for the project the man was already halfway done with, showing the new guy the ropes and all that.

The man that was now advancing across the room, straight for him. Virgil turned his wrist over and put it palm down on his leg. “Can I help you with anything, Kelsey?”

Logan nodded, looking down at him. “I’d like to begin working on the project now, if you have the time.”

Virgil smiled, swinging the chair around and scooting into the desk. “Sure! Pull up a chair while I get this set up.” He wiggled the mouse, causing the screen to power on. Clicking through a few files, he set up the next stages of what he’d been working on before the meeting.

A chair rolled over and Logan sat beside him, a notepad propped up on his knee and a pen in his hand. “You’re going to have to brief me on what you’re working on as I was given no directions on what I am to learn from you.”

Virgil nodded, picking up a pencil to twirl between his fingers. “I’m just working on a simple graphic at the moment. Really, this could have been done by one person.” He glanced to the side. “Are you working more on the graphics department or the slogans? I’m asking because you look like you belong in the finances department instead of down here with everyone else.”

Logan looked at him then, eyes dragging over Virgil’s frame. The emo felt like he was being judged, as if his comfortable hoodie and ripped jeans were suddenly inadequate to Logan’s slacks and dress shirt and tie. Logan shrugged. “I don’t see the problem. I didn’t know the dress code was more casual than other departments. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Virgil couldn’t help but let out a laugh at that. “No, there’s no dress code here.” He paused. “Do the other departments have dress codes?”

Logan bobbled his head. “Yes and no. They don’t have official dress codes but everyone is pretentious and stuck up so they think they’re better than everyone else and dress like it.”

Virgil nodded. “I like you better than I thought I would.”

Logan coughed into his fist, his eyes darting down to the notepad on his lap. “We should probably get started.”

“Right!” Virgil directed his gaze back to the screen and briefly ran over what he’d done to get to this stage of development for the ad before explaining his process as he did the next few parts.

The next day, they picked up from where they left off. Virgil pulled Logan into the decision making, asking him what colors he thought would contrast well and why, asking where he would put the text, and slowly getting him used to making these kinds of decisions himself.

Soon, a month and two projects had gone by. The pair had bumped into each other in the parking garage and rode the elevator up, talking about personal interests and other things. When they got to the floor, they were pulled into a meeting by Roman. Most of the team was already there with a few others trickling in around them. As they waited, the conversation turned to soulmates.

Logan nodded to Virgil’s wrist, the compass covered by a leather cuff since that first day. “May I ask why you decided to cover it?”

Virgil shrugged. “I met him already and I have no idea how he feels about me. So, I covered it. I’d rather be accused of having a broken compass than actually have a broken heart.”

Logan nodded. “I can understand that. I’ll admit, it scares me a little, knowing there’s someone the compass points to. So, I cover it, not wanting to look at it. I don’t know why I’m so scared of the inevitable.”

Virgil internally released a sigh of relief, knowing now why Logan covered his wrist. “It’s not like that for me. In the beginning, I was glad to have the compass. I have pretty bad anxiety so it was nice to be able to run my fingers over it and know someone was there for me, that someone would always be there on the other end, waiting just for me. Now that I’ve met him, I don’t think he’ll feel the same about it. So, I covered it.”

Before Logan could respond, Roman called the meeting to order. “So, it seems that Mr. Kelsey now knows what he’s doing when it comes to graphic design. Is that correct, Mr. Storm?”

Virgil nodded. “Sounds right to me, sir. He’s a fast learner and a hard worker.”

Roman nodded, smiling. “With that in mind, it’s time to say goodbye to Mr. Kelsey as he’s now off to the advertisement department.”

Virgil looked at his soulmate. “Is that true? You’re leaving us?” He shouldn’t feel so hurt or betrayed by this revelation but here he was, his heart feeling like it’d been torn to pieces.

Logan had an apology in his eyes that never made it past his throat as Roman called attention back to himself. “I know it’s sad to see him go. However, we have to realize that he was always going to be with us for a short time. We should learn to appreciate the time we’ve had with him.”

Virgil smiled, sadness lingering at the edges and tears damming behind his eyes. “Yeah, appreciate him.”

Logan looked over at him, probably wondering how he was, but Virgil turned away. He ignored the man for the rest of the meeting, focusing on keeping the tears inside and trying to pay attention to Roman.

When it was over, he was the first to leave. Before Logan came that wouldn’t be abnormal but ever since the other man had been there, Virgil had socialized a bit more, he’d become friends with Logan in a way he’d never done with anyone else. He’d trusted the man, not knowing he was leaving.

He walked away, the heels of his hands swiping at his eyes. He heard a voice behind him, someone calling his name, but he ignored it and continued on. He pushed through a door, not knowing where he was going. The voice sounded again but he was barely paying attention. A hand landed on his shoulder, spinning him around as Logan said his name for the third time. 

“Virgil, is there something wrong?”

Virgil covered his face with his hands, knowing he was being childish. “No, nothing’s wrong.” He lied.

Logan’s hand stayed on his shoulder. “Then why won’t you look at me? Or even say goodbye to me?”

Virgil squeaked at the mention of his soulmate’s imminent departure. His hand fluttered, wanting to curl around Logan’s tie, wanted to keep him from leaving, but he knew that wasn’t an option. So, the hand never landed, just went to his side as the other hand stayed over his tear-tracked face.

Logan sighed, pulling him into a hug, one arm around his waist and the other hand cradling his head. “Talk to me, please.” His voice was a whisper in his ear, easily making itself heard over the roaring battle between fears in Virgil’s head.

Virgil leaned his head on Logan’s shoulder, the hand covering his face coming down to grip weakly at his own belt loop. He wanted to explain, to say he felt betrayed, but didn’t have the words. So, he stayed silent.

They stayed like that as Virgil’s tears slowly dried and his breathing went back to normal. Some time into the hug, Logan’s hand had started rubbing the length of Virgil’s spine in a soothing manner, the other hand staying still on his head. When Virgil’s breathing evened out, he felt Logan pull away, hands coming to cup the graphic designer’s face.

“Will you tell me what’s wrong?” His voice was still soft so Virgil wasn’t sure if he imagined the tone of impatience hidden beneath it.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving?” Virgil had no way of explaining his feelings, so he asked about the root cause of them instead.

Logan’s face revealed his surprise before it softened. “Don’t you remember? You were told at the very beginning that I was only here temporarily.”

Virgil thought back to that day, when he was still in love with the idea of a soulmate rather than actually in love with his soulmate. He had a vague memory of Roman mentioning a temporary member of the team. He felt heat rise to his cheeks as he knew this was his inability to listen correctly that had caused this. “Oh.”

Logan chuckled. “I’m sure this is also a communication error on my part. I should have told you rather than rely on Roman’s less than stellar memory.”

Virgil giggled softly as he used his hoodie sleeve to scrub at the salt crusted on his cheeks. “So, what do we do from here?”

Logan looked around. “Maybe we should go back to your desk and talk about why you had this reaction to news of me leaving. Besides, I’m not leaving until the end of the day anyways so we might as well get some work done.”

Virgil nodded and the pair headed back to Virgil’s desk. Virgil dabbed a bit of water from his thermos onto a nearby tissue and scrubbed the lingering salt from his cheeks. Logan sat silently and patiently, waiting for him. When that was done, Virgil stalled by booting up the computer and flicking open the files they’d need for the day. Logan softly said his name to get his attention.

Virgil sighed, his hand moving from the mouse to unlatch the cuff on his wrist. Logan watched, curiosity in his gaze. He revealed the back of his wrist and quietly muttered, “I got attached to you, you idiot,” before turning it to show him.

Logan pulled it closer, turning it left and right as he tried to see if it was true, that he was Virgil’s soulmate. At last, he put Virgil’s wrist down and unlatched his own cuff. He chuckled at Virgil’s words. “To tell the truth,” his voice was louder than Virgil’s but no less sincere, “I developed feelings for you as well.” He turned his wrist to show Virgil his compass, the needle firmly fixed on Virgil.

Virgil smiled but it was still tinged with sadness. “But you’re still leaving.”

Logan laughed, reaching to draw Virgil close, pressing their foreheads together. “Two floors up. I'm heading to advertisement.”

Virgil frowned. “What do you even do?”

“I survey the different departments to see how they use their budgets. I actually have an office three floors up.”

Virgil laughed, pushing his shoulder just hard enough to rock him but not enough to push him away entirely. “You jerk.” Still, he tilted his head for a kiss that was quickly granted.


	20. Day 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can send one item to your soulmate every year.  
> CW: Food.

It started when Virgil was ten. His moms had always made sure that there was a small spot in the corner of the room that never got used, a blanket he’d had since he was a baby being the only thing allowed in that corner. He’d been told that, one day, an object would appear on the blanket that hadn’t been in his room before and it would be from his soulmate. So, he waited anxiously for that day.

When the day came, he was told he was allowed to put one thing on the blanket and a new thing would be there in the morning. As his birthday was in a week, he’d thought it was something like a birthday Santa and put a favorite teddy bear there. When he woke the next morning, a book was in place of the bear.

As he grew older, the items became ones with meaning: his first pair of dance shoes that he’d grown out of, a drawing he’d done of the first album he’d bought with his own money, a picture of the first trophy he’d won for his dancing.

The gifts from his soulmate also became ones with more meaning. He got copies of books ranging from fairy tales to in-depth analysis on things like the Titanic and Ancient Egypt. He got copies of certificates and pictures of prize ribbons attached to science projects.

When he first got his acceptance letter, Virgil put a picture of it in the ‘soulmate corner’ as he’d called it for a while. On a whim, he attached a sticky note that said, “I got in!”

The next year, the soulmate corner was set up in his dorm room. His mother had already told him that the corner would transfer to one in his dorm room so he was ready when the next gift came. This was a black teddy bear with a sticky note attached. It was then that Virgil realized the sticky notes counted as part of the single object. They both started filling the sticky notes with as much as possible.

His third semester, his roommate had a revelation. Remus sat bolt upright from where he’d been hanging over the side of the bed. “You could send your phone number!” His voice was louder than it usually was, his hand in the air as if he were asking for permission to speak.

Virgil just chuckled from his sprawled position on his own bed. “Isn’t that against the rules? You’re not supposed to give out your address or anything like that. Natural meeting and what not.”

Remus groaned, turning to look at him. “Natural smatural, just give them the number already.”

Virgil paused in his scrolling, taking the time to think about it. “I guess as long as we don’t make plans to meet, it’s still a natural meeting.”

Remus nodded, grabbing a sticky note from his mess of a desk to scribble his number down. Virgil frowned. “I thought your corner wouldn’t activate for another week or so?”

Remus shrugged. “It’s never too early to plan on what I’m gonna give him.”

So, the next time Virgil’s corner activated, he sent a geology book he’d picked up for his soulmate with a sticky note with his number on it. A few hours later, he was curled up with a purple teddy bear and texting his soulmate for the first time.

They talked late into the night, neither wanting the conversation to end. It seemed to flow seamlessly from topic to topic, going from siblings and roommates to favorites of anything. Virgil wanted to know everything about Logan, his soulmate, and it seemed he returned the sentiment.

A few years later, the texting had progressed to calling. That was a constant in their lives. Virgil would call Logan while making dinner, talking about their days and how they went. Logan would call Virgil at a reasonable time, lulling him to sleep with his voice.

This is how he recognized him almost as soon as he spoke. Virgil had been working as a barista at the time, his shift just starting. “Virgil, get out there!” Remy hissed at him, tossing his apron at him and hitting him in the face with it.

Virgil just nodded and made his way out. The morning was always a slow shift so he tapped his foot to the rhythm of the music the speakers were playing. He had to give it to Remy, the man had a good taste in music.

The door jingled as a customer walked in, Virgil’s attention straying from the music to the person walking toward him. Virgil smiled at the customer. “Welcome to Dark Roast, what can I get started for you today?”

The man scanned the menu before his brow furrowed, eyes dropping back down to Virgil. “Virgil?”

His voice was just like the one that laughed with Virgil over office antics, the one that commiserated with him when he complained about customers, the one he fell asleep to. He smiled. “Hi, Logan. I didn't expect to meet you here of all places but I'm glad I did.”

Logan’s smile was soft. “I’m glad to meet you too.”

After a minute of awkward staring, Virgil coughed into his fist. “You should probably order now.”

Logan looked startled. “Right! Uh, I’ll take a large mocha.”

Virgil nodded, ringing that up and passing the order off to Remy. With no other customers around, he let himself relax slightly. “So, what brought you to my little corner of the world?”

Logan laughed. “Well, my usual one was closed today.”

Virgil hummed. “Is there any way to convince you to switch to this one permanently?”

Logan smiled, leaning forward slightly. “It depends on how good the coffee is.”

Virgil nodded just as Remy passed him the coffee. “I guess you can tell me later. I’m not certain you have the time to stick around and tell me now.”

Logan looked down at his watch, noticing the time. He leaned forward more, grabbing the coffee and leaving a kiss on Virgil’s cheek on his way out. Virgil stood stunned for a second before Remy’s voice came from the back. “Look alive, sweet cheeks, someone’s in love!” Virgil shushed him and went about bussing tables.

Logan came back later that day, his pace brisk and his face lit with a smile so infectious Virgil couldn’t help but smile back at him. “Looks like someone had a good day.”

Logan nodded. “I met my soulmate, I got the deal I wanted, and I had the best cup of coffee in my life this morning. Everything seems to be doing great!”

Virgil giggled. “Well, my shift should be over in a half hour if you wanna wait around? We could grab a bite to eat afterwards if you want?”

Logan nodded and moved to sit at a table in the corner. Soon enough, they were out the door, hand in hand on their way to get sandwiches from the sub place down the street. Not much of their lives changed except that they were dating and Logan would come often for coffee and chats.


	21. Day 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pick your favorites (1 or more) and combine them!; Trail of color combined with impossible to lie to soulmate.   
> CW: blood, mentioned side character death, mention of knife, (just in case) mention of police/detectives.

Logan stepped out of his car and approached the crime scene. “What do we know so far?”

“It looks like a homicide, Detective.” 

He turned his head, glaring at him. “It looks? Do we not know if that’s the case? Surely if this were a homicide, the victim would still be here. So, is the body on site? Or at least on it’s way to the morgue?”

The cop cowered into his jacket slightly. “Yes, Detective, there was a body.”

Roman walked over. “Shoo! I’ve got him, you go get a break.” Logan rolled his eyes but turned to follow the lieutenant as the cop wandered off in relief. “So, what we’ve got is a body, footprints, a murder weapon, and three distinct blood samples.”

Logan nodded. “Two against one, not great odds for the dead guy.”

Roman barked a laugh. “Yeah, you could say that again.”

They entered the house and Logan took his time walking the scene. He examined the almost comical outline of where the body had been found, the placards for evidence, and the splatters of blood. He lingered on certain spots for reasons unknown to those around him. Sometimes, he would pull out his phone to take a picture to look at, his expression neutral. It wasn’t for another hour or two before he left to go back to the precinct.

He drew up a file for what they knew so far and added a personal note of ‘Is my soulmate one of the killers?’ He pulled the file for the victim and found that it was one Patton Hart. The man had been an upstanding citizen who worked at a local bakery. Logan made a note to call the bakery and give the owner a notice of Patton’s passing.

The next day, the call was made and he was off. He knew this was going to be an easy job and he also knew that he shouldn’t have taken it. He thought his emotions wouldn’t get in the way, that he would be able to take this case and not think about the fact that the person he was hunting could turn out to be his soulmate. He tried not to think about the implications of that and how it would impact his decisions.

No, he didn’t think about how he could be on his way to incarcerate someone who could end up being the love of his life if the circumstances were different. He didn’t wonder what that person was like, if they were cruel or soft to those they loved, if they slept lightly or deeply, how it would feel to have them next to him.

He didn’t think about how easy it was to track their path due to the glowing purple trail highlighting their every move, how this was worse than fish in a barrel because the fish at least knew there was no escape while his soulmate, this criminal and killer, thought they were free, thought they’d actually get away with this. They had no way of knowing that their life had been on a timer the second Logan stepped inside that house. No, he didn’t think of any of that. His hands tightened on the steering wheel, the music blasting in the hope of drowning out those thoughts.

He didn’t know how long he drove, only that it had taken him all day before the trail swerved off road. He pulled into a farm area and parked on the side of the dirt road. He stepped out, his service weapon close at hand in case things got nasty. Approaching the door to the farmhouse, Logan tried to look professional or at least laid back, anything other than the bundle of nerves and live wires he felt like.

He pushed through the door of what looked to be a bed and breakfast. “Hello?”

A man poked his head around the corner. “In here, honey bun!”

Logan followed the voice. “I would ask that you refrain from pet names as we are strangers but I can already tell that would be a lost cause.”

The man laughed, pulling his sunglasses down just enough to look over them at him. “If you keep that up, we’ll get along just fine, sugar.”

Logan sighed but sat down in the kitchen. “I’m just here to ask a few questions, I’m not going to be staying the night.”

The man sat down opposite him at the large wooden table with a live edge. Logan took a minute to glance around the large and airy kitchen, the current main source of light being the windows giving it a homey look. His eyes went back to the man before him and he slid out pictures of the people the blood samples matched. “Have you seen either of these people lately?”

The man paused, the towel he’d been using to dry his hands held suspended in his grasp. While he looked over the pictures, Logan looked around the room for any trace of his soulmate and found faint ones but nothing to go on. “The left one's name is Virgil. I don’t know the right. What would a sweet boy like him be doing messing with the law?” The last sentence was said quietly, as if it wasn’t meant for Logan to hear.

Logan sighed. “So, you’ve seen Virgil in the past few days? Could you point me in his general direction?”

The man put his towel down. “I could. What do you need him for?”

Logan decided to just tell a half truth. “I just need to ask him a few questions about something that happened a few days ago.”

He nodded before jutting his thumb over his shoulder. “Emile told me he’s out back chopping wood or something.” He shrugged. “I will never understand him.”

Logan thanked him for his time and exited through the indicated door. He found the trail of purple leading around the side of the building and followed it, coming upon the sound of wood being split by an axe. A purple hoodie in the same color as the trail lay nearby, discarded by the person chopping wood. He traveled around the corner and found the source of the sound.

He cleared his throat to get the man’s attention. The shirtless man startled and turned. Logan knew he was his soulmate based off the trail that led right up to him but he still wasn’t prepared to meet him like this. Putting on a professional face that made his features neutral, he spoke. “Would you mind answering a few questions?”

His soulmate, the man who might be a criminal, _Virgil_ nodded. “Am I allowed to finish this pile first, Officer?”

Logan smiled, sitting on the grass nearby. “That’s fine. And my actual title is Detective.”

Virgil nodded before swinging the axe again, letting it hit and spilt the piece of tree trunk before him. Logan took the time to examine the man. The homicide was committed with a kitchen knife in a stabbing motion and this man certainly seemed capable of it. Logan’s eyes lingered on his biceps, seeing the definition of the muscle and he knew those muscles were practical, not dehydrated for a bodybuilding competition.

The last axe swing hit its mark and Virgil left the axe in the stump, moving to pick up a discarded shirt to wipe his face of sweat before downing part of a water bottle. “So, what can I do for you, Detective?” He sat Indian style in the grass facing Logan.

Logan looked through his notes. “Were you in the city two days ago?” He gave the address for the house as well.

Virgil’s expression was stiff as he nodded. “Yes, I was there. I’m assuming you want my witness statement?”

Logan looked at him as he pulled out the photos from the crime scene. He meant to reassure him but he forgot about the inability to lie to his soulmate. “You’re actually currently a suspect.”

Virgil tensed. “You don’t know I didn’t do it, do you?” He scrambled to his feet, beginning to pace as he ran a hand through his hair that must have been matted with sweat. “I was a victim too!” He reached down, pulling up his pants leg to show a large bandage. Logan noticed a smaller one on his cheek and one that was somewhere between them residing on his nondominant shoulder.

Logan didn’t know what to do. With his soulmate being unable to lie to him, he had to take his word as absolute truth. Still, there was a small part of him that wondered if it was only a one way soul connection and Virgil wasn’t his soulmate. “Okay, I understand.” He swiftly put away the crime scene photos, instead pulling out the random stack of mug shots he’d compiled before he left. “All I need you to do now is help me figure out who did this. Can you do that?”

Virgil’s pacing slowed, coming to a stop in front of Logan. He looked down at the pictures, hand on the injured shoulder. He scanned them as Logan watched his eyes, fear evident in them when they came to one particular picture. Virgil pointed at it. “That one. That’s him.”

Logan looked down to see the mug of the third blood sample staring back at him. “Okay, that will be helpful.” He rose to his knees with minimal effort, gathering the pages up. “I’ll be on my way then.”

Virgil’s hand clutched his sleeve, keeping him there. “Can I ask a request?”

Logan turned to look at his soulmate, the man who wasn’t a killer, the one who was a victim, and his face softened. He allowed himself to show emotion, his face the picture of concern. “Yes?” His voice was soft too.

Steel crept into Virgil’s eyes, turning him into something that looked dangerous. “I want to come with you.” That same steel was in his voice, almost turning it into a command instead of a request.

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Why would you deliberately ask to meet your attempted murderer?”

Virgil’s voice remained firm but sadness tinged the edges. “He killed my best friend and I want to watch his face when justice is served.”

Logan nodded, softly chucking him under the chin. “I guess I can stay the night to give you time to shower and pack. Would that be acceptable?”

Virgil nodded, releasing him to grab his things, their arms brushing as he headed inside. They spent the night at the bed and breakfast, Remy seeing them out in the morning with a quick hug and a “Bye, babes!”

They both climbed into Logan’s car, the detective making sure to turn the radio down and off before Virgil got in. Virgil put his bag in the trunk before walking around to get in the passenger side, a sketchbook in his lap. Logan smiled at him as he got in, handing him the aux cord. “How about you pick the music for the ride? I don’t have any preferences when it comes to music.”

Virgil nodded and plugged his phone in. Logan expected him to play rock or emo music but instead a soft ballad was followed by a catchy pop song. The drive was spent in relative silence as Logan headed in the direction the actual killer had run. Finally, Virgil turned down the volume and spoke. “So, what are we doing now?”

“I’ve already communicated with the precinct so they know you’re a witness under my protection. At the moment, I feel no need to inform them that you’re my soulmate. That will be done eventually but I assumed after this was over would be soon enough.” He glanced at his soulmate. “Unless you would like me to alter the timing at all?”

Virgil shook his head. “No, that’s fine.”

“In return, I was informed of the last known location of your attacker. I was told it was close to where you resided, which, at the time, only perpetuated the idea of you working together. However, I am more inclined to think he was stalking you in an attempt to finish the job.”

Virgil’s hand slid closer to the center console. Logan allowed his right hand to let go of the steering wheel, letting it rest near Virgil’s. The purple clad man smiled, holding the hand in a loose grasp, one that told Logan he was free to pull away when he needed to. “So,” Virgil asked, “are we going to arrest him now?”

Logan nodded. “That’s the plan.”

A silence descended that was more comfortable than the one before, one that knew they were on an even footing. So, even as the music was turned up and a song from a musical came on, they both reveled in the companionable silence that came with the other’s hand in theirs. The car sped on, eating up the road easily as they headed off to get justice for Patton Hart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Maybe one day I’ll give this a second part where they take down the killer.


	22. Day 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you close your own eyes, you can see what your soulmate sees.  
> CW: kidnapping, food, allusions to police, minor injuries.

Virgil closed his eyes tighter, still seeing nothing but black. “Come on, come on! Come on, dear, you can do this!”

Patton sat next to him as he opened his eyes with a sigh. “Nothing?” Patton handed him a bagel from the box nearby.

Virgil shook his head. “I’m not sure where he is and I have no way of tracking him right now. He doesn’t have his phone on him, he can’t see anything. I don’t know if he has a blindfold on, a bag over his head, or if he’s just in a dark room.” Virgil stared down at his bagel. “I don’t know what to do, Pat. I'm scared. For both me and Logan.”

Patton rubbed his back soothingly. “Hey, maybe you can send a message to him! Let him know that you’re thinking about him and are trying to save him!”

Virgil nodded, putting his bagel down in favor of grabbing a pencil and paper to write carefully, “I’m looking for you as hard as I can. I need your help. Is there any way you can get your eyes open, even just for a second? I love you and am thinking of you. I won’t rest until you’re by my side.”

Patton read it over his shoulder and cooed. “Aww, that’s so sweet!”

Virgil stared intently at the page, trying to let Logan get a good look at it. When he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer, he closed them. Logan’s eyelashes were fluttering in a desperate attempt to open. “That’s it, come on.” Virgil said soothingly, willing the words or at least the sentiment to go across to his soulmate, the love of his life, his husband who got kidnapped just because Virgil published a book someone disliked a bit too hard.

Logan was able to force his eyelashes open and Virgil smacked the table next to him for a sketchpad and anything to draw with. Virgil sketched whatever Logan saw, not completely processing it. Patton made some noises but Virgil ignored him for now, focused on what Logan was sending him. His pencil flew across the page, trying to render as much as Logan was seeing.

Someone appeared in Logan’s line of sight, wielding what looked like a knife and moving their mouth as if they were shouting, and Logan’s eyes snapped closed. Virgil opened his own eyes to find Patton fluttering around the room. Virgil sighed. “How did you ever become a PI?”

Patton paused, standing as if he were a paused screen. He straightened, putting his hands behind his back as if to prove that he was a professional. “Easily. People trust me and I’m good at my job.”

“When you’re not freaking out like that.” Virgil muttered good-naturedly under his breath. He turned his attention to the drawing in front of him. The landscape was a nondescript room, no identifiable features. The only things of note were that Virgil could not see Logan’s hands in this picture so he had to assume they were tied behind his back and the man in the corner of the picture, the one with the knife.

Patton settled down and looked over Virgil’s shoulder. “Have you seen that man before?”

Virgil frowned. “I don’t think so. Do you think you could convince your husband to run it through his database? I can try to blow up the face first.”

Patton nodded. “I can ask Roman to but it would be helpful to have a larger picture of it.”

Virgil nodded, flipping to a clean page and scribbling some messages to Logan first. Most of the messages were telling him he loved him, that Logan did a good job and gave Virgil what he needed, and other little notes like that. He also doodled some hearts and things he knew Logan would love like unicorns standing on the molecular model of water.

Then, he carefully tore out the picture he’d made earlier and set it to the side while he flipped to a new clean page and got to work. He put some headphones on and played some music to distract himself from thoughts of Logan getting tortured. Just to reassure himself, he’d take breaks and close his eyes to check in on his husband. Always, Logan’s eyes were closed.

An hour and a half later, Virgil finished with the drawing. He closed his eyes one more time to check in on Logan and found his eyes open. He seemed to be on his back based on his view of the ceiling and Virgil immediately made a mental note to check for broken wrists. Logan didn’t seem to be in much discomfort but Virgil knew he was good at hiding it from him.

Virgil opened his eyes and passed the drawing off to Patton. “Can we put this in some sort of express way? Even if that means I have to pay for it out of pocket, I don’t care.”

Patton nodded, picking up his phone to call his husband. Virgil closed his eyes again but was met with black, meaning that Logan also had his eyes closed. Virgil pulled the sketchpad closer and picked up where he left off, doodling meaningless drawings. He found an empty space off to the side and wrote, “I got a drawing of the man. We’re gonna run it through a database and see if we can figure out who it is. I don’t want to get your hopes up but I’m coming to you as fast as I can. You’re being so brave, just hold on a little longer, darling. When I get you home, I’m gonna hold you so close you’re gonna be sick of me. I love you so much, starshine.”

Virgil couldn’t sleep that night knowing Logan was out there, maybe being tortured. He kept closing his eyes only to see black. He could faintly see Logan’s eyelids fluttering so knew he was alive at least, probably with a blindfold on. So, he got up and put on a documentary with subtitles, hoping to let Logan watch along with him.

He wasn’t aware it was morning until he got a call from Patton saying that he’d teamed up with another PI and they’d found where the man, Alden Blue, was located. Virgil hurried to get dressed and out the door, more than ready to have his husband within sight again. He met up with Patton and they drove there with Remus, Roman’s PI brother.

Virgil was told he had to stay in the car but he insisted on coming in with them. So, he was given a vest and put in the back of the group. They’d brought in a small team to help and soon had Blue in custody. Virgil ignored the man, who was now sitting against the wall with handcuffs and a bloody lip, and kept going through the rooms.

Soon, he came to a room that looked exactly like the drawing. He found Logan in the corner, on his back with his hands cuffed beneath him, a blindfold covering his eyes. Virgil breathed a sigh of relief at seeing him mostly unharmed. He walked over and saw Logan’s head turn at the noise, shrinking back slightly.

Virgil’s heart broke at the way Logan was trying to curl up as small as he could. He carefully knelt next to him, murmuring, “Let me see you, darling.”

The blindfold slipped off and Logan’s frame shook as he dove into Virgil’s arms, confident in his ability to catch him. Virgil did, carefully picking him up and bringing his husband out of the room. He got both the key to the car and the handcuffs key from Patton and made his way out to the car. He gently uncuffed him and brought his wrist forward. Kissing the pulse point, he set about working feeling back into them and checking for injuries. “Are you hurt anywhere else?” He kept his voice quiet.

Logan shook his head, unable to take his eyes off him. “I have a few bruised ribs but other than that I’m unharmed.”

Virgil nodded, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. Logan turned his head so Virgil's lips landed on his own last second. The kiss stayed soft and gentle, the couple’s eyes slipping shut as they shared the tender moment.


	23. Day 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At a certain age you switch bodies with your soulmate for 24 hours.  
> CW: Food, implied abusive household, cursing.

Virgil rolled over, hand smacking to turn off an alarm he didn’t remember setting. Eyes opening, he found the world to be fuzzy and out of focus. He noticed the sheets surrounding him were softer than anything he’d ever felt before. Glancing at the side table, he noticed a white notecard sitting atop a black cylinder. Reaching forward, he picked up both items. The cylinder fell open and a pair of glasses tumbled to the sheets. Virgil picked them up and put them on, groaning in relief at being able to see, the eye strain he hadn’t even noticed disappearing.

Looking down at the notecard, he found neat handwriting on it. ‘Greetings! My name is Logan Croft. I am 20 years old. If you are reading this, that means you are my soulmate and have turned 18. You are free to eat anything that is in the kitchen however I must ask that you refrain from eating peanuts of any kind throughout the day as I am severely allergic. My schedule for the day is on the kitchen table. Happy birthday.’ _Great_ , he thought. _I thought I had another year until this._

Virgil rolled out of bed, moving to the mirror propped in the corner to look at the face he’d be wearing for the next twenty-four hours. His hair was slightly mussed from sleep and his night clothes hung from the tall and lanky frame. Lifting the shirt, he was surprised to find a muscular abdomen. He turned, sorting through the closet for something he could stand to wear for the day. It was filled with business casual to formal which made Virgil think he was a business major of some sort.

Thinking that he’d decide after breakfast, he walked to the kitchen and found the schedule. Picking it up, he found a loaf of bread and made some toast as he read over it. Glancing at the kitchen clock, he saw that the first class was in twenty minutes. He grabbed the toast and ran back to the bedroom, not wanting to be late for class. The class list seemed more in line with a marine biology major than a business one but he still put on a polo and jeans. He would have attempted the tie but he’d never been taught how. Then, with toast in his mouth and the schedule in hand, he quickly pulled up a navigation app and was out the front door.

~~~~~~

Logan woke to a loud and annoying song blaring near his ear. He sat straight up in bed, taking a second to notice that his vision wasn’t blurry before he turned to riffle under the pillow. He felt a rectangle and pulled it out, finding a phone that was quite a few years past its usefulness. He swiped it open and turned off the alarm, the music cutting off.

He slid off the bed, feet hitting a cold floor, before looking around the room. He found a clean, if bare, room with papers strewn across a desk in the corner and a purple hoodie tossed over the back of the desk chair. He moved over to the desk, picking up a paper to find math equations scrawled over them, the name Virgil Stern written neatly at the top.

“Hello, soulmate.” He whispered quietly to himself, the voice raspy with sleep. He glanced up, seeing his reflection in the cracked mirror covering the closet door. There were dark circles much larger than he knew was healthy under his eyes.

Before he could get a better look, a voice cut through the silence. “Virgil, if you don’t get down here soon you’re gonna be late and I’m not waiting for you!” The shout from outside the door was combined with pounding.

Logan took that as his cue to dress. Picking up the hoodie, he made his way to the closet and threw on a tattered looking shirt and some ripped black jeans. Slinging the hoodie over his shoulders, he snatched up the bag next to the chair. He found a list on the desk that seemed to contain what was needed for the day. Seeing the class schedule on the back, he shoved it into the bag.

He heard footsteps outside the door and tore out of the room, running down the stairs. “I’m coming!” He called.

“It’s about time!” The woman standing at the door exclaimed. Logan ducked his head, passing her on his way out. He stood uncertainly on the walk, not knowing what to do. The woman waited for five other teens to pass her before she closed the door. Logan silently followed the others to a minivan, sliding in with the ones who looked closest to Virgil’s age.

~~~~~~

Virgil got through the first class just fine, taking as detailed notes as he could. He had no idea what was going on or what his soulmate might need so he wrote down everything that seemed important, which meant he was one step away from writing down the whole lecture. He was on his way to the next class, searching the sides of buildings for names, when he heard someone call Logan’s name.

Turning, he saw someone running toward him so he slowed down slightly. When the person caught up with him, they looked like they were about to time travel to the past. Virgil couldn’t help but chuckle. “Is it dress like a pirate day and no one told me?” He immediately wished he hadn’t spoken.

The stranger just put their hands on their hips and laughed. “Logan, how have I not told you about the most recent play I’m in?”

Virgil just chuckled. “Uh, you might have at one point. I’m not myself today.”

The stranger laughed with him. “You could say that again. So, did you and your soulmate swap?”

Virgil sighed. “I have no idea how to act like Logan.”

The person laughed, sticking out a hand. “I’m Roman, his best friend. I go by they/them pronouns.”

Virgil smiled, shaking their hand. “Virgil; he/him.”

Roman smiled. “Cool. Logan also goes by he/him. Come on,” they began walking and Virgil fell in step, “We have classes near each other so we usually walk together anyways.”

Virgil smiled. “So, what’s your play about?” Roman launched into a detailed explanation of it while Virgil was just glad to not have to think or do anything besides walk and listen for a few minutes.

The peace was over as they arrived at the next class and Virgil once again had no idea what was going on. He followed along and took notes just short of being the transcription for the lecture, trying to get down everything. Luckily, it didn’t look like Logan had any classes after this so he was free to meet up with Roman and simply follow them around as needed. He ended up spending the rest of the day sitting in the theatre while Roman ran lines and did the costume practice. He even got the chance to meet Roman’s soulmate, Patton.

~~~~~~

Logan was in his own personal hell. He had to deal with so many rowdy people in one car, high school again, and people who obviously didn’t care about his soulmate. For goodness sake, none of them had even mentioned that it should be Virgil’s eighteenth birthday. They should have known it was coming, they should have asked about it, done something. Instead, he got a lecture in the car ride about needing better sleep habits.

When he got to the school, he was almost instantly attacked from behind. Muscle memory moved the body before he even thought, throwing the person over his shoulder and flat onto their back in front of him. Logan took the few seconds while the person was getting up to wonder why that was the first instinct.

“Hiya, Verb!” The person said, dusting the front of their clothes off.

Logan straightened his backpack and frowned. “Am I supposed to know you?”

The person laughed. “Wow, looks like your soulmate is a year older than you, Virge. Or, I guess I should use your name, Virgil’s soulmate?”

Logan began walking into the building and Virgil’s friend followed. “My name is Logan. I’m assuming Virgil’s eighteenth birthday is today as I’ve been twenty for almost five months.”

The person snapped, reaching a hand out to shake Logan’s. “Well, my name is Remus but Verb normally calls me Stinky. What should I call you?”

“Logan will suffice. I’m assuming we have the same classes? I don’t know this school’s layout.”

Remus nodded. “Yep! Just stick with me and you’ll be fine, friendo!”

They went through the rest of the day at each other’s sides. Logan took as detailed notes as he deemed necessary, the important things from what he remembered. At lunch, he was informed that Virgil and everyone around him thought that he was turning seventeen today instead of eighteen. When he asked about that, he was told that Virgil had been in the foster system for a while and had to repeat a grade due to bad home life disrupting his grades.

The end of the day came and he went back to the front of the school with Remus, having to pack himself into the van with the other kids. He sent a quick, “Bye, Stinky!” for show before the door closed. He spent the rest of the ride in silence but his thoughts were racing. His mind was made up as they arrived at home, Logan instantly going up the stairs to do Virgil’s homework for him. On a scrap piece of paper, he wrote his phone number down before pausing.

Carefully, he began writing in his neatest handwriting. ‘I don’t know you yet, but I want to. I want to know what your laugh sounds like when I’m the one making you laugh. I want to know what you think about late at night. I want to know you. I want you to know me, to know whatever you want about me, to know my darkest secret and know I give it willingly. I want to know you and be known by you. I can’t wait to meet you, no matter how long it takes. I hope you had a good birthday and that Roman took you out for ice cream or something. I hope you know you are loved and appreciated.’

He went about making the bed and neatening up the room as much as he could. If he couldn’t be there to wish his soulmate a happy birthday, he could at least give him a nice present. That present might not be an expensive item, but it could be finished homework, a clean room, and a good night’s rest.

~~~~~~

The end of the time came and they swapped back at midnight. Both soulmates’ best friend filled them in on the events of the day and everything their soulmate did. After all, it was a few years before they met again.

When they did, it was by complete chance, as most soul meetings went. It was outside an aquarium. Logan was just getting off his shift and Virgil was going to the donut shop across the street from it. Logan saw him and paused. “Virgil?” He called.

Virgil turned, trying to find the voice that had been his own for a day and still populated his dreams and evenings, the nightly calls coming to mind. His name was called again and he saw the figure standing across the street. He waved and watched as Logan came across to him, a smile on his face. “Logan, hi.”

Logan couldn’t help but reach forward, hand brushing Virgil’s in a silent ask for permission to hold it. Virgil’s smile grew as he turned his hand to take Logan’s. “You know,” Virgil began, “I was just about to grab a donut if you wanted to join me?”

Logan smiled. “I’d love to, soulmate.” The word was said as both an endearment and a promise. A promise of a life spent together, of days starting and ending with each other, of a shelter and a place to relax without having to hide any part of himself. An endearment of love, of someone worth loving, and that was all that Virgil needed. If he hadn’t been in love with his soulmate already, he would have fallen in that moment for that one word that held so much.


	24. Day 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you meet your soulmate for the first time, you get a brief flash-forward of your future.  
> CW: weapons.

Virgil entered the room, following behind Prince Roman. He stepped to the side, blending into the background with the ease of someone who’s done this for years. Roman approached the table and took a seat directly in front of where Virgil was standing. He watched as the room slowly filled with the officials necessary for this alliance to take place.

Someone else came and stood beside him as another prince swept into the room, sitting beside Roman at the table. He glanced over at the person, head not moving from its position. “Are you an attendant or a bodyguard?” He asked quietly.

The man smiled, not taking his eyes off the man he came in with. “A bodyguard. You?”

“The same. My name’s Virgil, I’m with Prince Roman.”

“Logan with Prince Patton.” This time, he flicked his eyes over to look at Virgil, accidentally meeting his eyes. In that split second of contact, their future flashed before their eyes.

_Virgil rolled over in bed, snuggling closer to the warmth next to him. He hummed as an arm was slung over his back, a warm chest pressing against his side as another arm snuck under his torso. Logan hummed, his head resting on Virgil’s back. Virgil chuckled, moving as close as possible. “You’re warm.”_

_Logan’s answering chuckle was a rumble against his side. “We should get up soon, my love.”_

_“Noooooo.” Virgil whined, somehow managing to worm his way even closer to his now husband. Logan’s arms started moving away from Virgil, who curled closer. “Noooooo, don’t leave me!”_

_This pulling away and pressing closer continued until they both tumbled off the bed, thudding to the floor with giggles. Logan sighed but tried to untangle them from the blanket. “Are we getting up now?”_

_Virgil briefly considered trying to curl back up in the blankets on the floor but Logan had already stood and was waiting to give him a hand up. So, he took the offered hand and let Logan pull him into a hug. He leaned down for a kiss and a murmured, “Good morning, Husband.”_

~~~~~~

_Logan picked up a sword and tossed it between his hands. “Come on, dear. Won’t you duel me?”_

_Virgil just laughed as he stepped around the other bodyguard, coming to a stop near the daggers. “You are an insatiable flirt when you want to be but you know I prefer to dual wield.” That being said, he grabbed two short swords._

_“Ha ha!” Logan crowed as Virgil went into a ready position. “Let the best bodyguard win.” With that, he launched himself at the man he’d been flirting with just a few seconds ago._

_Virgil parried and the fight was on, the pair going back and forth across the training grounds. To the outsider, this would look like a fight to the death, but to them it was courting. The sun set behind them as they continued to strike, block, parry, swipe, slash, and try in every other means to kill each other lovingly._

_The time came when Virgil’s foot slipped and he went down. Logan swiftly hit the ground on top of him, his knees straddling the bodyguard and his sword at the other’s throat. A gasp rose from an ignored onlooker, the pair's attention solely on each other._

_“I believe that’s a win for me.” Logan said. Virgil didn’t respond, instead surging up to kiss Logan on his cheek before he dumped the man on his side, standing and brushing his clothes off, offering a hand up._

They broke eye contact, both turning to watch their respective prince instead. They were quiet the rest of the meeting, standing side by side but never once glancing in the other’s direction. When the meeting was over, the two princes seemed to continue talking to each other. This made sense as they were to be married for an alliance. Virgil was glad, having had to listen to Roman’s pining for Prince Patton ever since he got the position.

“So,” Logan’s voice brought him from his thoughts, “I’m assuming this means we’ll be seeing more of one another?”

Virgil smiled, shifting so his shoulder was barely pressed against Logan’s. “One way or another.”

Logan pressed his own shoulder back on Virgil’s. “If what I saw is true, I don’t think I’d mind that all that much. Although, I must ask, how good are you at dueling?”

Virgil smirked. “Better than you’d think looking at me.”

Before their conversation could continue into a duel, Prince Remus approached Virgil. “I’m bored.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Go bother someone else, my prince. I’m trying to have a conversation with Prince Patton’s bodyguard.”

Remus looked between them, his sharp eyes noticing their shoulders pressed together. “What are you talking about?”

Logan smiled but shifted away from Virgil. “We were discussing if we were to take turns guarding both of them or if we were to do so at the same time.”

Virgil nodded. “You know,” he turned to Logan, “I still think it would be more efficient to have one person guard both of them. Then, we could swap between the two of us in shifts.”

Logan shook his head. “No, because we each already take shifts with another guard. If we both guard together, that keeps the shifts intact.”

Remus pouted at the lack of attention and wandered off, likely to cause mischief but Virgil couldn’t care less in that moment. Instead, his full attention was on the man standing beside him who he knew was gonna be his husband one day. “You might be onto something. However, I think we should both take a slightly longer shift than normal. Just so they match, of course.”

Logan nodded, a mischievous smile forming on his face as he understood Virgil’s intentions. “I think that’s a wise decision.”

So, they stayed five paces behind their charges while being glued to each other’s hip, asking as many questions as possible. Virgil’s questions were more along the lines of which weapons Logan favored and if he would be willing to teach them to him while Logan’s were about evasion and protection strategies, but they both still learned a lot from each other as they kept up the façade of being interested in comparing notes. It wasn’t until they were relieved of duty that their questions turned more introspective, more tender. The weapons were replaced with food, the tactics with morals.

Soon, the princes both went back to their respective kingdoms to prepare for the wedding. Meanwhile, their bodyguards maintained a steady stream of letters back and forth. Part of them were about security measures and the integration of the royal guards when the marriage took place but most of them were about personal things. That duel that Logan saw was the crux of their relationship, sending them from casual flirting to both proposing at once. A month later, Virgil’s glimpse of a cozy morning was realized.


	25. Day 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At a certain age, an item representing your soulmate appears next to you. When you and your soulmate’s items come together for the first time they glow brightly.  
> CW: food mention, bone mention (fake skull), vampires.

Virgil fiddled with the charm bracelet that represented his soulmate, fingers moving over the charms that hadn’t aged in the hundred years he’d had it. There was the book charm, right next to the glasses, a miniature hourglass that could measure a minute with it’s indigo sand, a little figure he’d only recently learned was a robot, and a little structure he had yet to figure out. He’d worn it since the first time it appeared on his side table with a brief stint of it laying in a drawer. That was when he’d first been turned and hadn’t thought he’d ever find his soulmate at that point. So, it languished in a drawer for a few weeks before he snatched it back up, clipping it around his wrist and promising himself he’d never abandon his soulmate like that again.

Ever since that day, he’d kept it on his wrist. It became more of a comfort to him than a soul item but he still half hoped it’d glow eventually, his hopes growing every time a stranger approached and shrinking when they walked away with nothing happening. It was like his hopes were a living thing, taking a deep breath before letting it out. Still, the little charms were helpful for getting rid of anxiety as he tended to count the charms fingers tracing the outlines as he thought of the person made to enjoy his company, undead or not.

He glanced around the little coffee shop he’d been going to for a few weeks. His eyes weren’t drawn to any one thing in particular but roved aimlessly over the patrons and tables, his glazed eyes sweeping past the windows. They paused briefly on each of the workers, a silent appreciation for what they did and how much they put up with on the daily. Remy nodded at him from behind the counter before plastering a smile onto his face to deal with the next customer.

Virgil’s eyes went back to his own table, the temporary interest in the going ons of mortals already fading. His fingers swept over the last charm, the one he couldn’t quite figure out, before he took another sip of his coffee, one of his fangs hitting the rim when he brought it up at the wrong angle. He winced and put it down again, his tongue coming up to inspect the tooth.

He pulled his sketchpad closer and tried to finish the cover of a book the publisher wanted done within the week. He lost himself in the movements, the coffee going from lukewarm to cold beside him as he forgot about it. Another hour passed like that before his watch chirped, letting him know he had other places to be.

He packed his things up carefully and stood, making his way to the door. Before he could leave, Remy called to him. “Virgil, come here!”

Virgil sighed but turned, walking over to the one mortal he could stand. “What is it this time, Remington?” Remy had tried to detain him three other times this past week and Virgil was starting to get a bit tired of it. However, his words didn’t come out nearly as intimidating as he wanted them to as his fangs gave him a slight lisp.

Remy just laughed and looked like he was three seconds away from pinching Virgil’s cheeks. “You’re adorable when angry.”

“Just get to the point, Picani.”

“What, does the big bad vampire have somewhere to be?”

“Remy, you’re stalling. If you’d just told me you wanted me to stay for a while longer I would’ve agreed.”

Remy pouted. “Oh, boo. You ruin all my fun.”

Virgil smirked. “I live to please.” And so he stood there with the barista, talking about how Virgil would improve the menu design.

After a few minutes, the bracelet started glowing and Virgil glanced at Remy. “Did you plan this?”

Remy shrugged, a smile crossing his face. “I might have noticed some similarities between the two of you and your soul items and made a connection.”

Virgil’s fingers wandered to the unknown shape on the now glowing charm bracelet. He looked around the coffee shop, searching for the other person with the glowing object. He locked eyes with someone who had a silver bat skull t hanging from his neck and the person approached. He held out his right hand, the one with the bracelet hanging from it. “Virgil Stern. I think we might be soulmates?”

The stranger smiled. “Logan Croft. Have I heard your name before?”

Behind Virgil, Remy rolled his eyes and muttered, “I thought you’d have a better line than that.”

Virgil ignored him, knowing where he’d heard Logan’s name before. His left hand tightened on his sketchbook. “I’m the illustrator for your book.”

Logan snapped his fingers. “Yes! That’s right!” He smiled and Virgil caught a glimpse of fangs.

“Are you a vampire, too?” He asked impulsively.

Logan startled a bit. “Too?”

Virgil bared his fangs a little. “They’re larger than average, giving me the lisp.”

Logan smiled. “I think they’re cute. Although, I have to admit, you’re not as eccentric as I thought you’d be.”

Remy laughed. “Wait ‘till you get to know him.”

Virgil turned around and hissed, “Don’t you need to take croissants out of the oven or something, child?”

Remy put his hands up and walked away, tossing an, “I see how it is,” over his shoulder.

Virgil turned back to Logan. “As annoying as Remy is, he’s right. I’m definitely more eccentric once you get to know me.”

Logan laughed. “I have to admit, I find it endearing to know you wholly embrace the vampire aesthetic.”

Virgil smiled. “Is that why you have a skull on a chain?”

Logan held it in his hand. “It’s a vampire bat skull and it’s actually a locket.” Prying it open, he showed the cavity was filled with a small strip of paper rolled into a cylinder.

“What’s the paper for?”

“I was going to put my soulmate’s name on it.”

Virgil smiled, leaning up to peck his cheek. “That’s sweet.”

Logan took a second to order the drink he came there for before the two vampires moved to a table to keep talking. As they did, Virgil’s fingers glided over the charms he knew by heart, putting names to objects. The hourglass that held a minute of time, the glasses, the book, the robot, and the structure that was now defined as a model of the molecule serotonin.


	26. Day 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can’t see shades of your soulmate’s eye color until you meet and look into each other’s eyes for the first time.  
> The sleepxiety fic no one asked for but I made anyways.  
> CW: Food

Remy sighed, glancing at his watch. “When will this party be over?” He muttered.

Roman leaned against him, sprawling on the couch. “You feeling alright?”

Remy shrugged. “I’m fine, buddy, just bored.”

“We could always find the bilge rat and make some mischief?”

Remy shook his head. “No, I think I’ll just go home early.”

Roman popped back into a sitting position. “What? No, you can’t go home early! You never go home early! You’re the party animal, the last to leave. What are you talking about? Are you sick?” His brother moved to put a hand to his forehead but Remy just pushed him away.

“I’m just tired, okay? It’s been a long day.”

Roman snapped his fingers. “That’s right, you went out with Virgil all day! How did it go, did you ask him out?”

Remy pushed him. “I didn’t.”

“Why? I’m almost a hundred percent positive you’re soulmates so why not ask him out? What’s the worst that could happen?”

“He rejects me and we end up not even being friends anymore.” Remy stood. “You know, I think I _will_ leave.”

He passed Remus on the way out, both siblings maintaining eye contact for the whole time they were in the same room. Remy sighed in contentment as the cool night air hit his face. He kept walking, hands in his jacket pockets, letting his mind wander.

In such a crowded area with music so loud he could feel his chair vibrating, the only thing he’d been able to think of was Virgil. The silly redhead had taken over his mind to the point that everything else was dull in comparison to him. He kept walking, his mind wandering again and again to Virgil no matter how many times he tried to think about something else. He paid no mind to the wind whispering in the trees or the sounds of his own footsteps, too consumed with his thoughts to even notice the direction his feet were taking him.

“Remy?” Virgil’s voice caused him to look up to find himself inside the diner Virgil worked at. Reflexively, he twitched his nose to make sure his shades were in place. He silently cursed whatever instinct made him find Virgil.

“Hey.” He said softly.

Virgil just laughed. “Go sit down, my shift is over in a half hour anyways.”

Remy did as he was told, sliding into a booth and taking the time to people watch. Soon enough, Virgil was placing a milkshake in front of him and sitting opposite. Virgil took a long pull from his own milkshake before speaking. “So, what brings you to my little corner of the universe? I thought you had a party to go to.”

Remy shrugged. “I was just spoiling it anyway.”

“Why?” Virgil tilted his head, his jewelry flashing in the too bright lights.

Remy wanted to tell him that of all the people in the party, Virgil’s face was the only one he wanted to see, that no matter how hard his chair vibrated with the music, Virgil's voice was the only thing he wanted to hear. He wanted to tell him that no matter how many people dressed to get his attention, it was only going to be on Virgil and his ratty hoodies and multitude of piercings.

“I’m not really in the mood to party so I’d just drag down the mood.” He took a sip of his milkshake. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

Virgil nodded and moved the conversation to something else, the talk wandering from topic to topic as they drank their treats. When they were done, Virgil cleared off the table before clocking out. Remy held the door for him as they left. They walked down the street, Virgil’s hands in his kangaroo pocket. Eventually, they ended up at the pier.

Remy sat down, taking off his shoes and socks to let his feet dangle and brush the water. Virgil sat next to him, one leg pulled against his chest and the other curled beneath him, his head coming to rest on Remy’s shoulder. They sat like that for a while, just enjoying the other’s company in silence.

Finally, Remy spoke. “Have you ever wondered who your soulmate is?”

Virgil smiled. “Yeah, I’ve wondered.”

“Have you ever thought that you’ve met him already but didn’t know?” Remy laid his head on Virgil’s and hoped he wouldn’t hear how fast Remy’s heart was beating.

Virgil laughed. “Remy, are you trying to ask if I think you’re my soulmate?”

Remy shook his head, sitting back up and gently nudging Virgil’s head up until he was looking at him. Virgil’s nose ring glinted in the light of the moon and his earrings reflected the streetlights. “I’m trying to tell you I think you’re my soulmate.”

Virgil smiled. “Okay, how do we prove it?”

Remy glanced out at the ocean that was a churning mass of grey tones, a blank palate waiting to be filled with color. He pondered the idea of something being withheld from someone until they hit an arbitrary milestone in their life before his attention was brought back to Virgil and his glinting jewelry. “Well,” he answered, “I could always take off my sunglasses.”

Virgil nodded. “Okay, that works.”

So, Remy reached up and removed the only thing protecting him from getting his heart broken. He screwed his eyes shut as the lenses fell away before slowly opening them and seeing blue for the first time in Virgil’s eyes.

In that moment, when it was just the two of them, something clicked into place in the world as Remy cupped Virgil’s cheek. “Is it the wrong time to confess that I’ve had a major crush on you for the past year and ask if I can kiss you?”

Virgil laughed, those blue eyes sparkling. “I’d have to confess that I’ve felt the same for about a year and a half and I’d be terribly devastated if you didn’t kiss me.” So, Remy leant forward and was met halfway by Virgil.


	27. Day 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your eyes match your soulmate’s hair color. If they dye their hair, your eyes change colors.  
> 'Ren' is the gender neutral version of 'Mom' or 'Dad' and is derived from 'paRENt'. I recently found out about nonbinary people using this term and found it cute so decided to include it.  
> CW: animal mention, vampire mention, food mention.

Virgil ignored the stares he was getting, used to them by now. As he had to live his life with red eyes, he’d had to get used to the stares quite quickly. He felt worse for his parents, who had to deal with questions of why they would let their child wear colored contacts and the effects they could have on him. His mom had to hold his ren back from tearing a person’s head off. Instead, she would just calmly inform them that red hair occurs naturally too.

In his teen years, it was seen as a rebellion to have red eyes. Some of his teachers even tried to say he wasn’t allowed in the classroom unless he ‘took the contacts out’. Those times, his mom didn’t hold his ren back from verbally tearing into the teacher about how it was against school policy and freedom of expression to tell him he couldn’t wear something that wasn’t bothering anyone else and this was how genuine aids got taken away from the people who needed them. Next the teacher would be saying that kids couldn’t have tassels on their backpacks as it would be disruptive. Once his ren had gotten their rant over, they informed Virgil’s teacher that his soulmate most likely had red hair. The teacher never mentioned it again.

Halfway through his teen years, Virgil just decided to roll with it. If people were going to stare at him, he was going to give them something to stare at. So, he dyed his hair a dark purple that almost passed as black, claiming it was payback to his soulmate. By the time he was fully settled in his style, he looked like the vampire he was so often confused for with how red his eyes were.

Thus, he didn’t pay attention when the customer kept staring at him as he tried to restock the ferret food section. He smiled, wiggling his fingers at the little guys before moving on. He began the routine feeding of the fish when he heard footsteps near him.

“You!” He turned to find a redhead with purple eyes hidden behind black wire frames pointing angrily at him.

Virgil thinned his lips and raised his eyebrows. “Me,” he said disinterestedly, moving to go back to feeding the fish.

“You’re the one who’s made me have _purple_ eyes for the past ten years!”

Virgil nodded. “Sir, as you’re assuming you’re my soulmate, I will inform you that there is no way we can hold an actual conversation as I’m currently working. If you would like to have the conversation of who had to deal with the worse eyes for the longer time, I would suggest you come back at five as that’s when I get off.” He smiled, flashing his dark red eyes at him before moving to a different tank.

His soulmate stepped back, tugging slightly on the leash of a large canine. “Alright, I’ll be back then.”

True to his word, Virgil clocked out and exited the building to find the man from before standing there, no dog in sight. He stepped forward and reached out his hand for a handshake. “I’m sorry, I believe we got off on the wrong foot. See, I was having a hard day and took it out on you in a way that was completely unacceptable. For that I apologize. Would you allow me to buy you a hot beverage to make up for it?”

‘Oh, he’s adorable’ was the first thought in Virgil’s mind as he reached to shake the man’s hand. “That sounds perfect, thank you.” He was exhausted after his shift and could use the pick me up. They fell in step beside each other as they walked to the coffee shop down the way. “I’m Virgil.” He said as a way of starting a conversation.

“My name is Logan.” Silence descended until they’d gotten their drinks and slid into a booth. Logan cupped his drink in both hands. “Again, I’m sorry we got off on the wrong foot. I know it was my fault.”

Virgil shrugged. “To be fair, I snapped right back so I don’t think you can claim it was entirely your fault.”

“Still, I shouldn’t have come on so strong.”

“Eh, agree to disagree.” Virgil shifted in his seat, taking the time to drink from his cup. “So, how about you tell me about the struggles of living with purple eyes?”

Logan shook his head, a smile forming. “It’s not been the worst thing to happen to me. I mean, at the very least it’s an interesting conversation starter.”

Virgil laughed. “I wish I could say the same about the red eyes.”

Logan winced slightly. “Sorry, that must have been difficult for you.”

“Oh, you know, just a few people not understanding that red haired toddlers exist. Or red haired teens. So, the vampire aesthetic was a direct combatant to that.”

Logan looked up at him. “If it’s any consolation, I think the aesthetic suits you.”

“Thank you. I have to say, I like the red hair more than I thought I would.”

Their conversation went on, changing from hair and eyes to animals and jobs. Soon, they were knee deep in a discussion of which Greek constellation truly deserved it’s fate. Theirs was a match made in heaven and they got along like a house on fire. They stayed in that coffee shop until they were kicked out at closing and soon it was a normal thing for them to meet up every Friday after Virgil’s shift and walk to the coffee shop, talking as long as they were allowed.

Soon, it was progressing to every Tuesday and Friday, then practically every day. Virgil began to rely on Logan, being excited to see him at the end of his shift. It was no surprise to anyone when they started dating a few months after meeting and were married by the end of the year.


	28. Day 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every night a sentence appears on your arm, a repeat of something your soulmate said that day.  
> CW: Food, blood mentioned.

Virgil sat on his bed, waiting for the next quote to appear on his arm. He’d always enjoyed this part, the quiet anticipation of seeing what they’d said throughout the day, the wondering if he’d heard them say it. He liked that it was just him and his soulmate, no one else taking up his time and energy.

Soon enough, he was watching as the words scrawled across his arm, looking like they were handwritten with attention paid to every detail. “I can’t wait to hold you, falling asleep to your heartbeat.” He smiled at how cheesy that was and seconded it. Shifting, he turned off the light and curled up, drifting off to thoughts of his soulmate.

The next day, he was sitting in Patton’s car, listening to the radio as his friend ran into a store quickly when he heard it. “I can’t wait to hold you, falling asleep to your heartbeat.” He tilted his head, listening to the rest of the song sung by the same voice. The radio didn’t say what song it was but Patton got back before the song ended.

Virgil pointed to the radio. “What song is this?”

“Oh, that’s _Dear, Soulmate_ by the up and coming artist Logan Dark! I have one of his albums if you want me to put that on?”

Virgil agreed and the rest of the trip was filled with him matching lyrics to a voice and context. By the end of the CD, he was smiling. “I think he’s my soulmate.” There was awe in his voice, his face joyful.

Patton smiled. “I’m happy for you! What do you want to do about it?”

Virgil shrugged. “I mean, what’s there to do? Take a cross country road trip to his place of work to show up and say I’m his soulmate like some crazy stalker?”

Patton wrinkled his nose. “Well, when you put it that way . . . ”

Virgil just laughed. “Yeah, Pat, when you put it that way it sounds impossible.”

Patton glanced at the clock. “It’s time for the podcast soon, isn’t it?”

Virgil pulled up his phone clock. “Shoot, it is. You wanna guest star?”

Patton shrugged. “Sure.” They drove back to Virgil’s place to stream it, listening to everything Logan Dark had.

That night, Logan Berry found the phrase, “The walls were covered in the blood by the time the neighbors got there.” written neatly on his arm. He sighed, knowing his makeup department was going to kill him for that. He also knew he wouldn’t trade his soulmate for the world, no matter how weird they may seem. As it was they seemed to share a few common interests.

He sat down at his desk, turning on the usual podcast while he worked. He paused when the speaker mentioned blood on the walls. He grabbed his phone and looked up the person who ran the podcast, finding it to be one Virgil Strand. Now knowing his soulmate’s name, he let himself finish the podcast. It went on as normal until he got to the end. “I’m gonna apologize in advance if the next episode has bad quality or is late. I’ve recently figured out who my soulmate is and am going on a fool’s errand to find him. Logan, if you’re listening to this, I’m coming to you.”

Logan jolted at the mention of his name. So, Virgil was going to come find him, was he? Well, Logan was going to make it as easy as possible for him to do so, even if it meant getting an earful from his manager, Remus.

A few days later, Logan posted a photo in front of a landmark on his social media. Virgil saw it and nearly smacked Patton in his enthusiasm. “Pat, Pat! He’s posted!”

Patton laughed, pushing Virgil’s hand out of his face to see the phone. “That’s an almost twenty hour drive away, Virgil! Are you sure you wanna do that?”

Virgil nodded, his face set. “Positive.”

“Okay, let’s go. I’ll need to swing by the gas station before we set off but we can get there.”

Virgil looked at him, the friend that he’d grown up with, the one he’d watched outgrow him, the one who came from a broken home but still managed to put a smile on his own face day after day, and felt nothing but gratitude for him. “You don’t have to do this with me, you know?”

Patton smiled, holding out his arm to show Virgil the sentence written on his arm in cursive, and said, “It seems my soulmate knows yours so it’s best for me to come with.”

“Okay, you should come.”

They packed their bags before they drove to the gas station, picking up some snacks and topping off the tank. Virgil popped in the latest Logan Dark album and played it, a wide grin on his face when _Dear, Soulmate_ came on. Patton laughed at him but didn’t say anything, slipping into the driver’s seat to let Virgil work on the script for the next episode.

Virgil did some quick searching of the route and warned Patton they’d have to stop halfway through as ten hours on the road was a bit much for them. So, they pulled off when Virgil said to. He smiled when he finished setting up. “We’ve got a real treat tonight, folks. Not only do we have a special guest star for the second night in a row, we also have a unique location.”

“Where are we, Virgil?” Patton asked, always willing to help his friend in his theatrics.

“I’m glad you asked, Pat. We are currently in the same hotel that had over five suicides in it just three years ago.”

Logan had gotten finished early and was lying on his bed, earbuds in as he listened to the podcast live instead of the recording after like normal. He knew he could fall asleep to Virgil’s voice and the way he spoke of such horrific things with the utmost respect for the victims. He handled every situation with a delicacy and tact Logan rarely found in such podcasts.

The next day was chaotic for Logan as he knew Virgil was on his way from the new location but still needed to keep it calm to keep Remus off his case. This resulted in his leg bouncing while trying to go over things with him. Logan couldn’t sit still for long, knowing that Virgil was getting closer by the hour.

Remus laughed when Logan had to stand and pace while rewriting another lyric. “What’d you do, put too much sugar in your coffee this evening?”

Logan paused, looking up from his notes. “I got an exceptionally good night’s sleep and have written a new song in record time. I do believe those are both reasons to be overly enthusiastic, don’t you?”

Remus shrugged. “I guess. Hey, you wanna get ice cream or something?”

Logan checked the clock and found that it was quite late at night. “The hour is too late, so no, thank you. You are free to get some, I’ll still be here when you get back.” He felt jittery at the thought of Virgil being in the same town as him.

Remus nodded and left. Logan took this chance to look out the window in time to see a car pull into a parking spot nearby, the driver door opening and a person getting out, heading to the lobby. The passenger started grabbing bags. Logan put on a ball cap, tugging it down low over his eyes as he pulled on an old hoodie and headed down to the lobby. Logically he knew that the odds of that being Virgil and his friend were slim to none but he also needed to know.

“Hi, I need a single room with two beds, please?” A voice Logan had been getting himself familiar with greeted him as he stepped out of the elevator. He smiled, leaning against the wall nearby, and waited. Virgil left to help Patton with the bags but they both returned quickly and headed to the exact elevator Logan was standing in front of.

Turning around, he pressed the call button and managed to get the elevator to arrive at the same time as his soulmate did. “What floor?” He asked as he held the door for them. The one he assumed to be Virgil almost dropped the bag he was carrying as they filed in, giving him the number.

Patton leaned into Virgil as the elevator moved. “I’m tired. Let’s find them in the morning.”

Virgil chuckled and wrapped an arm around Patton. “That was the plan, my dude.”

Logan couldn't help taking off his hat. “If you’re looking for someone, maybe I could help?”

The pair straightened as the doors opened. Virgil glanced at him before saying, “Thank you but we’d prefer to do this on our own.”

Just as the doors closed, Virgil’s tired mind put a name to the face. Cursing under his breath, Virgil hurried to catch up to Patton. “I think I just made a mistake.”

“Can it wait for morning?” Patton asked sleepily.

“I just told Logan I don’t need his help finding him.”

Patton giggled as Virgil let them both into the room. “I’m sure he’ll still be here in the morning. If you want to tell him how much of an idiot you are, you can do it then.” Virgil nodded and they both got ready for bed, easily slipping into sleep after the long day.

The next morning, Logan dragged Remus down for breakfast even though the manager wanted room service. He saw the pair already at a table and sat nearby. Virgil’s head popped up before he almost slammed it down on the table, pulling his hood over his head. Logan laughed and turned to him. “Are you my starlight?”

Virgil lifted his head as Patton stood, making his way outside of Logan’s field of attention. “What?”

“You know, ‘starlight, starbright, first star I see tonight’? Because I could have sworn you’re a wish come true.”

Virgil groaned. “Okay, that was smooth.” He stood and rounded the tables, coming to sit at Logan’s, bringing his bowl of oatmeal with him. “How did you figure out we’re soulmates? Or are you just hitting on me?”

“I’ve been listening to your podcasts so recognized you when you came in last night.”

Virgil nodded, glancing at Patton and Remus, who were bumping each other and laughing. “I guess he was right about his soulmate being someone close to you.”

Logan smiled, his eyes still on Virgil. “I guess fate knows things.”

Virgil turned back to him with an answering smile. “Yeah, I guess it does.”


	29. Day 29

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have a telepathic link with your soulmate until the two of you meet.  
> CW: food, Bee Movie

Virgil looked around the room. “Logan?” He called, sending the thought over their telepathic link.

“I’m here. Are you alright?” Logan’s voice came to him, sounding like it was whispered into his ear. 

“I’m scared.”

“I know, darling. I’m coming. Can you describe the room at all?”

Virgil looked around the room again, trying to make anything out. “It’s just a concrete room. One door, a very high window, probably a basement room. I don’t know where I am.” He felt tears prick at his eyes and invade his voice, even if it was in his head.

“Okay, that’s fine. Can you take a few deep breaths for me? I need you to stay as calm as possible, okay?”

Virgil did as asked, taking a few deep breaths and putting his head on his knees. “Talk to me, please?”

“Okay, I can do that. What do you want to hear about?”

“Anything. Just take me away from here.”

“Alright. Should I recite the entire _Bee Movie_ script from memory?”

Virgil chuckled, wiping at the tears on his cheeks. “How about you tell me all the things wrong with that movie instead?”

“Ah, yes. A much more enjoyable task. I’m doing the best I can to find you but in the meantime, I’m happy to rant to keep you sane.” Thus, having the script already memorized, he broke down everything wrong with the movie scene by scene, beginning with the main character’s gender. Virgil listened as closely as he could, trying to block out the dripping of a pipe, the silence of the room, everything but Logan’s voice.

A half hour later, he was startled awake by Logan. “Virgil? Virgil!”

“Huh?” Virgil sat up and rubbed his eyes. “Sorry, must have fallen asleep.”

Logan sighed. “I got scared when you didn’t respond.”

A smile flitted over Virgil’s face at that, his soulmate caring for him. “Sorry, I’ll try to stay awake.”

“Has anything about the room changed?”

Virgil looked around and found a tray of food. “There’s a tray of food.”

Logan let out a whoop. “What’s on it? Try to be as exact as you can.”

“Uhh, a glass of clear water that I almost wish was Vodka, a small loaf of bread-”

“What does the bread look like?” Logan interrupted. “Is there any cheese?”

“The bread is a dark brown with seeds sprinkling the top and there’s swiss cheese next to it. Why they didn’t just go for American or something like that is beyond me.”

“Dark brown and seeds combined with swiss.” Logan was muttering. “I think I know where you are. At least general location.”

“How did you- you know what? I don’t really care! I’m going to eat this and see if I can climb that pipe to look out the window.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?”

Virgil was already sniffing the water. “The water doesn’t smell poisoned or drugged.”

Logan chuckled softly. “Of course you’d know what that smells like.”

Virgil proceeded to eat his meal as slowly as he could, trying to make it last. Then, he moved over to the pipe and started hauling himself up hand over hand. “Gonna have to thank Mom for getting me into gymnastics.”

“Yes, we will have much to be grateful for once we meet.” Virgil heard a smile in his voice and couldn’t wait to see that smile for himself.

Virgil pulled himself up the rest of the way and hung on to the window sill. “Hey, there’s something out there! I don’t think these people expected me to be able to get here because the window only has a small latch.”

“Okay, good job, is there a way you can get out?” Nerves sounded through Logan’s voice, making it less neutral than usual.

“I think I can!” He reached forward and managed to unlatch the window, opening it with effort. Pulling himself forward, Virgil strained to get through the window. Eventually, he managed to roll onto the grass. “I’m out!”

“Good, run! Get as far away as possible!”

Virgil did so, putting as much distance as he could between the building and himself. He found a bus stop with the bus just arriving and hopped on it, fishing some loose change from his pocket for the fair. “I’m on a bus.”

“Does it say where it’s going? Maybe I could meet you at the end.” Virgil told him. “Oh, yeah, I could meet you there.”

“I’m looking forward to it.” Virgil said as he got comfortable in his seat.

When the bus arrived, Virgil got off, looking around for someone he’d never seen. It should have been a bit easier when Virgil was the only one who got off but no one seemed to be around. He felt silly as he put his hands in his pockets and moved to sit on the bench near the stop, missing someone he’d never met.

A car pulled up and he looked up to find someone in a trench coat stepping out. “I’m sorry I’m late.” That voice that had been a constant in his life was suddenly in front of him, attached to a real body.

Virgil didn’t know what else to do but throw himself into Logan’s arms. “You’re right on time.”


	30. Day 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When you look in the mirror, you can’t see your own reflection, just your soulmate.  
> CW: Arranged marriage.

Virgil looked in the mirror to see his soulmate at work. He was dashingly handsome when he got into the zone, the quill steady in his hands. He was sure he could watch him work for hours. In fact, he was sure he’d done just that on multiple occasions, sitting near a mirror just to watch him work or just to feel close to him, reading next to it in the hopes of feeling like he was spending time with his soulmate. That’s how he ended up in his current position, lying upside down on his bed, staring at the mirror.

Virgil’s brother sighed as he came into his room. “Virgil, could you sit up straight for once?”

“I’m anything but straight if my soulmate is anything to go off.” He muttered beneath his breath as he sat up, pausing when the blood rushed from his head.

Roman just folded his arms. “You need to get ready. We’re leaving soon.”

Virgil grimaced. “Why did our parents think this was a good idea? Don’t arranged marriages go against soulmates?”

Roman didn’t respond, just threw Virgil’s jacket on his bed and left the room. He tossed an, “I’ll be in the hall if you need me,” over his shoulder on his way out.

“I’ll try not to!” Virgil called back. He didn’t have to see Roman’s face to know he was sticking his tongue out.

Still, the young noble stood and began dressing. He knew this marriage was important for both countries but didn’t see why it had to be an arranged one. Couldn’t they just let the heir to the throne find their soulmate naturally rather than have to do this?

When he was presentable, Virgil stepped out of the room. “I’m ready.”

Roman pushed off the wall, walking down the hall. “It’s about time. I thought Mom was going to try to leave you if you took too much longer.”

Virgil just shook his head as he followed. “I’m the whole reason for the trip so it’d be redundant to leave me behind. Besides, are you sure Patton would let her? That woman dotes on your soulmate so he has to have at least some sway.”

Roman laughed, a sound that boomed through the hall and echoed back at the edges. “That’s true.”

They made it to the entry hall where their mother and Roman’s betrothed were waiting. “See, here he is!” Roman called as he strode to Patton, catching him around the waist to dip him for a quick kiss. Patton giggled.

Virgil groaned. “Oh, get a room already!” He moved past the three, heading for the carriage outside.

~~~~

Logan glanced at the small mirror sitting on his desk to see his soulmate getting into a carriage. “I wish you a swift and safe journey.” He murmured, as he always did when he saw his soulmate leave his house. He tried to focus his attention back on the task at hand but his thoughts kept floating back to his soulmate. He had to admit he was curious. Where was he going, who was he seeing, what was he going to be doing there, a million questions raced through his mind.

Just as he was determined to give up on his work and focus on his soulmate instead, the door to his study slammed open. “Babes, why aren’t you getting ready?” His annoyance of a brother strode into the room.

Logan sighed. “Remy, I was trying to prepare.”

“How are you preparing? You’re just sitting there with your official documents again.”

“I was trying to get ahead in my work so I could spend more time with my spouse to be.” Logan’s voice was smooth and even, the painting of diplomacy.

“Fine, you can work on that for another half hour but then you’re going to get ready! For real this time!”

“I’m assuming you want to approve the attire as well?”

“Well now that you said that I do!”

Logan sighed. “You can sit in that chair over there if you wish to wait here.” He pointed to a chair placed near a bookshelf that mainly contained works of fiction.

Remy plopped down in the chair, swinging his legs up to drape over the arm. Thankfully, he stayed quiet until Logan finished the last task and looked up at him. “Alright, I’ve finished. You may now commence whatever makeover you’ve planned.”

Remy smiled, elegantly slipping to his feet in a way Logan could never match. Still, Logan stood and followed his brother out the door.

~~~~

Virgil groaned as his feet hit solid ground for the first time in hours. He stretched, feeling his muscles settle back into place from the long ride. “What do we do now?”

Roman was already leading the way inside. “Come on in! They should be ready for the meeting soon!”

Virgil just shook his head, falling into step with Patton. “You’d think he was the one being married off with the way he’s carrying on.”

Patton nodded. “He’s excited.”

“I can tell.” Virgil chuckled.

They traveled through the castle until they got to the throne room. That was when Roman held his mother and Patton back. “It’s best if you go in alone for the first meeting. We’ll be following soon.” His expression told Virgil he’d be giving him plenty of time to get acquainted with his betrothed before they came in.

Virgil pushed open the heavy door and stepped inside. There, he found someone standing near a table, staring down at it with their hands behind their back. Their back was perfectly straight and their crown was placed in the center of their head. They looked extremely well put together. And miserable.

“Your highness?” Virgil carefully stepped deeper into the room.

The person turned around, their mouth falling open slightly. The next thing Virgil knew, he was being lifted at the waist and spun around. He threw his head back and laughed with joy at being so close to his soulmate. His soulmate put him down but still held him close, their hands still on Virgil’s waist. “What’s your name?” He asked it like it was the most important question in the world, as if it were vital information. His eyes were desperate, as if he would die if he didn’t know it soon.

So, he wasted no time before telling him. “Virgil. Yours?” He found that he was just as desperate to know, just as curious to have the knowledge of who his soulmate was.

“Virgil, huh?” He said it as if a name alone could be cherished, as if he were testing how it felt to say it. “My name is Logan. It’s very nice to meet you, Virgil.”

Virgil smiled. “It’s nice to meet you too, Logan.”

They both agreed to the arranged marriage, their betrothal solidified. It was solidified further after Virgil asked Logan if he would marry him even if they weren’t betrothed since birth. Logan responded that he’d marry him even if they hadn’t turned out to be soulmates. He’d fallen for Virgil’s mannerisms, getting to know his body language before he’d even heard his voice. He’d known Virgil’s face for so long he’d recognize it by the curve of the jaw, the swoop of the brow, the little birthmark he has beside his nose.

They were married a year after they first met, plenty of time to get to know each other as deeply as they’d always wanted to. Theirs was a happy betrothal and an even happier marriage, adopting a little boy by the name of Thomas as their heir and ruling with firm but gentle hands.


End file.
